Wicked - A Movie Review

original written-date: 12/6/24

I consider myself a cinema fan with no prejudice.  There are movies that I gravitate more to than others, but I firmly believe I can enjoy any genre of movie if it is made well.  I’ve watched the Barbie movie almost as many times as Oppenheimer, and while I prefer Christopher Nolan’s film more, I can still have a great time with Greta Gerwig’s despite them being so different.  But I say all this to say, a musical about the two witches’ origin stories from The Wizard of Oz is probably as far away from my wheelhouse as it gets. But when you love movies and have a girlfriend who loves Wicked, you sacrifice your right to Thursday Night Football and find the nearest AMC while you have the opportunity.  

Plot

The Wicked Witch is Dead! And the citizens of Munchkin-land are celebrating accordingly as Glinda comes down in her bubble to greet them.  When asked about being friends with her, Glinda takes us through the origins of their friendship, beginning with them meeting at Shiz University. Glinda, the blonde and beautiful and popular aspiring-sorceress, meets Elphaba, the green-skinned outcast arriving with her sister Nessa. Upon revealing her true powers by accident, Madame Morrible takes Elphaba under her wing imploring her to stay at Shiz U. Upon agreeing, she is paired up with Glinda as roommates, kick-starting their journey together.  

Cast

Cynthia Erivo - Elphaba

Ariana Grande - Glinda

Jonathan Bailey - Prince Fyero 

Michelle Yeoh - Madame Morrible

Jeff Goldblum - The Wizard of Oz

Ethan Slater - Boq Woodsman 

Peter Dinklage - Dr. Dillamond

Marissa Bode - Nessarose

My biggest surprise from the movie was how awesome Ariana Grande was.  I was pretty skeptical of her actual acting ability but knew she had the pipes to star in a musical, and I was shocked by how funny (funniest performance in the movie I thought) and endearing she was.  In the moments I didn’t agree with what Glinda was doing, I still found myself rooting for her which I think says a lot.  

I didn’t know who Cynthia Erivo was coming into this film, and as I wrote this I realized I had seen her in Bad Times at the El Royale where she was also able to flex her singing chops.  She has a great voice and I think she’s a good actress. The role is good because the character is written super-well and easy to sympathize with.  She’s been an outcast her whole life even to her own family, so she’s able to see the value in people’s differences and thinks no one should be treated differently for how they look (hence the animals connection/empathy). I say that not to diminish her performance because the singing is still incredible, but I think it’s an easy character to root for regardless of who’s in the role, and don’t think she did anything in particular to make me think it’s an award-winning performance as far as non-singing acting. 

As for the rest of the cast, I liked Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible. I think she was fun for the role, and I guess I should’ve been able to foresee her turn by the end given her name, but I did not. Jeff Goldblum is always a lot of fun. Bowen Yang made me laugh a lot throughout when they’d cut to him. Whether he’s playing a goat professor or a Lannister I’ll always love Peter Dinklage. 

I wasn’t personally a big fan of Jonathan Bailey’s Fyero or Ethan Slater’s Boq Woodsman, I still don’t really understand why we spent so much time with Fyero especially, but I’m sure it gets expounded upon in Part 2 next year.  I had absolutely ZERO prior knowledge about Wicked in general, so I have no idea what happens in Part two and had no idea what to expect in Part one, so in the vacuum of just this film, I thought they were pretty much meaningless to the plot and I didn’t think either actor were particularly awesome. Maybe I’ll change my tune for part two.

Spoiler-Free Review

I’m not sure this is even really needed because I’m probably one of 14 people out there who don’t know what happens in Wicked, but including it in case there’s anyone like me reading.  I enjoyed this movie a whole lot more than I expected.  My biggest concern coming in wasn’t the fact that it was a musical, but I didn’t think I was gonna like any of the songs. But being such a well-written musical, they incorporate the songs very well and there were a few I actually did like.  I think the biggest positive is that the movie visually looked awesome (even in 3D, ran circles around DeadPool and Wolverine). I found the movie pretty damn funny, especially Ariana Grande’s performance.  The theme of the movie (at least the one I took away from it) is how important it is to not be judgmental and accept others for who they are, and to stay true to yourself.  Which I think are both very important messages, and are clearly communicated (maybe even over-communicated, but I think that’s part of the deal with this genre).  Lastly, maybe my biggest praise of the film, is that it ended on such a high note, which I feel like can be difficult for a “part one” movie, but it was absolutely nailed here. 

My thoughts on this movie are very positive overall.  All of the above strengths outweigh anything I think negatively about it, but I did have some issues with Wicked too.  I feel like most stem from not being a fan of musicals and having no knowledge of the plot, so I’m not sure my negatives would match most people’s.  I’m all for the big musical numbers and the “sing-talking” to set them up. But I really do not enjoy when seemingly random lines are sung and there’s no song to follow/precede.  There were a handful of those I didn’t like. I felt like they really beat the dead horse of The Wizard being Elphaba’s father without straight up saying it. I think you have to pick one or the other and either make it more subtle with a reveal, or make it very comedic as they tip-toe around it (which I don’t think they did well at all if they were trying to make it funny). There were songs I liked but also songs I really didn’t like. And even though I liked them in their acting roles, I thought Yeoh and Goldblum were shitty singers.  My last nit-pick was the big party at the heart of the movie.  I didn’t dislike it, I just didn’t understand it at all in that moment.  (While my girlfriend sobbed in the seat next to me about how beautiful it was). Maybe it was just the lack of music that threw me off, the whole scene just really threw me off until Glinda joined in. Once Glinda joined in I understood it better, but I personally felt no emotional reaction to the scene as a whole, which is bad for the big emotional peak of the 1st and 2nd Acts.  (I imagine this is a big me-problem and 99% of people loved it.)

So in conclusion, I think my lack of expectations really elevated this movie past what I thought it could be.  It’s fun, bright and colorful, doesn’t feel too slow for a 2 hour 40 minute film, has some good music and funny moments, and ends on a high note.  I do think that part two is going to have a lot of trouble living up to part one (it seems like all the best songs are in this movie and expectations are going to be so much higher now).  To say I enjoyed watching Wicked is not something I ever anticipated saying, but it was worth the price of admission and a fun date night in my opinion.

Score

70/100