At The Movies: Defying gravity and expectations – Wicked part one sets stage for epic retelling
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Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked.
PHOTO: UIP
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Wicked (PG)
161 minutes, opens on Nov 21
★★★☆☆
The story: Set in the world of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, this musical follows Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a socially awkward young woman born with green skin, and Glinda (Ariana Grande), her beautiful, popular classmate at Shiz University. While Elphaba has natural magical abilities, Glinda secretly yearns for such powers. Their complex friendship eventually transforms them into the infamous Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.
This adaptation of the beloved 2003 stage musical – itself based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel – will be released in two parts, with Part Two scheduled for November 2025.
Director Jon M. Chu, fresh from music-driven hit Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and In The Heights (2021), brings his maximalist style to this ambitious project. While he excels at crafting sumptuous moments, the emotional connections between scenes sometimes feel tenuous. Working from a screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, Chu maintains the original’s psychologically realistic approach to childhood trauma and parental rejection.
The story unfolds through Stephen Schwartz and John Powell’s harmonically rich songs, as Elphaba and Glinda navigate a potentially murderous conspiracy lurking beneath Oz’s glittering surface. Despite familiar elements reminiscent of Mean Girls (2004) and Maleficent (2014), with touches of horror from Carrie (1976), the film maintains a serious tone throughout.
Erivo delivers a performance that masterfully balances creeping darkness with tragic vulnerability, though at the two-hour mark, the emphasis on her suffering begins to feel repetitive.
The strong supporting cast provides welcome moments of levity. Michelle Yeoh brings sinister elegance to her role as a sorcery teacher, while Peter Dinklage, voicing Doctor Dillamond (a goat professor of history), helps ground the story in its fantasy roots.
The film’s technical achievements are stunning. The Victorian-inspired production design creates a clockwork wonderland, particularly evident in the spectacular Emerald City train station sequence. A Marvel-worthy chase scene showcases modern cinematic techniques, while the Oscar-worthy costumes and sets layer ornate detail upon detail.
Chu’s expertise in crafting show-stopping moments pays off magnificently in the finale. The pop-friendly anthem Defying Gravity soars with Erivo’s powerful vocals, creating an emotionally perfect crescendo that elevates the entire film.
Hot take: At nearly three hours, this musical fantasy will test the mettle of all but the firmest fans of the stage musical. Good thing that the film’s big set pieces, boosted by the powerhouse vocals of Grande and Erivo, are a saving grace.
