Review Wicked: Part One

Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart.

The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West

What We Thought

To say I’m not the target audience for Wicked is an understatement. I’ve never seen the stage show nor am I the biggest fan of musicals. I had read the book the stage show is based on, but that was a very long time ago. I did bring a guest to the screening who had seen the stage show and was looking forward to the film so I figured even if the movie didn’t work for me, if she liked it I could have something positive to say about it. All that being said, I actually had fun with the film. Yeah I’m pretty surprised by that too!

Don’t get me wrong, it has its issues, but I didn’t hate myself for wasting a Sunday to see it. It’s too long and it’s only part 1 of 2 so you don’t get the complete story, but even that wasn’t the huge negative I expected it to be. Despite it being almost 3 hours long, it doesn’t feel that long. It’s long, but there’s enough going on that it holds your attention. You could probably cut a song/dance or two, but the audience that is going to pay to see it wants all the singing and dancing they can get. The two leads and supporting cast are constantly in motion so the length doesn’t beat you down too much and you need the backstory and their meeting to get to where this film ends.

It’s those two leads that make the film what it is. Cynthia Erivo has a powerhouse voice that is perfect for the film. That voice is great on stage as well because it’s that strong. She handles the musical numbers with ease especially the big third act showstopper that fans will be eagerly awaiting. Even never seeing the stage show I still knew that song because of its popularity and use on singing competition shows. You can pencil in Erivo for a Best Actress Comedy/Musical Golden Globes nomination.

Then there’s Miss Grande. I’ll be honest with you, I probably can’t name an Ariana Grande song. I probably can’t tell you anything she’s been in. The only thing I know about her is she dated Pete Davidson, but as of late, I’ve seen her Celine Dion and Jennifer Coolidge impersonations and have seen her in interviews and saw a much different side of her. I knew she was talented, but didn’t realize how funny she was. Because of that she totally works here. I don’t mean this as a negative, but Grande’s performance is so drastically different than everyone else’s that it feels like she’s in a completely different movie than everyone else. But the film needs that. She’s the daughter of someone important so she’s instantly popular and clashes with Erivo’s character. She gets to be a Mean Girl, but also is the wild card to Erivo’s straight laced character. She gets all the funny one liners and brings a lightness to the film. I’d actually watch a buddy comedy with her as the comedic lead after seeing her here. I’m genuinely surprised at how much I liked what she did in the movie. As a professional singer you knew she could handle that aspect of the role, but I found myself laughing along with her more than I expected.

Add in a supporting cast of Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Peter Dinklage and more, and the cast understood the assignment. It has big, over-the-top costuming and characters with dance numbers to boot and the production value is top-notch. They truly wanted to take Wicked from the stage to the screen and I believe they did that.

My biggest hesitation going into Wicked: Part One was that it was only going to be part one of two. The past few years have seen movies having multiple parts and most end on a cliffhanger that irritates you more than pleases you. Despite being Part One, Wicked: Part One has an understandable conclusion that doesn’t leave you hanging. You know there will be a Part Two, but when you walk out of Part One you will feel like it accomplished finishing the story it wanted to tell while still leaving the door open for Part Two. It concludes at an appropriate point where you don’t feel cheated unlike say Fast X. If I don’t see Part Two I won’t be upset that I wasted my time seeing Part One and that’s a pretty rare feat for movies of late. The film should be a box office hit and I can see fans of the stage show seeing it multiple times. I enjoyed it much more than I expected and now I kind of wish I had seen the stage show especially with the original cast. If you’ve read the book and have seen it on stage then for you it is definitely….

RECOMMENDED!

Genre: Musical Event

Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle and Peter Dinklage

Director: Jon M. Chu

Written by: Winnie Holzman

Based on the musical Wicked, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Winnie Holzman, from the novel by Gregory Maguire

Producers: Marc Platt, David Stone

Executive Producers: David Nicksay, Stephen Schwartz, Jared LeBoff

WICKED – In Theaters November 22

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