November 19, 2024
by Carla Hay
Directed by Jon M. Chu
Culture Representation: Taking place in the fictional land of Oz, the fantasy musical film “Wicked” (based on the novel and stage show of the same name) features a racially diverse cast of human characters (black, white Asian, and Hispanic) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy, as well as characters that are talking animals.
Culture Clash: Two very different witches become university roommates and unlikely friends, as one of these witches is bullied and persecuted for her green skin and the perception that she is evil.
Culture Audience: “Wicked” will appeal primarily to fans of the stage musical, the movie’s headliners, and big-budget studio musicals that have a good balance of style and substance.
Famous stage musicals are long enough, even with intermission. And so, when it was announced that the Tony-winning musical “Wicked” (a story about “The Wizard of Oz” witches as university students) would be made into a two-part movie—”Wicked” and “Wicked Part Two”—you could almost hear the collective groans of people who might be dragged to see the “Wicked” movie and will have to brace themselves for a bloated film that runs on for too long. Fortunately, the 160-minute “Wicked” is an enchanting cinematic version of the stage musical, with superb production values and entertaining performances. However, it didn’t need to be an overly long movie that will test the patience of anyone who doesn’t like musicals.
Directed by Jon M. Chu, “Wicked” was written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. The “Wicked” movie and stage musical are based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” which features some characters that were originally in L. Frank Baum’s classic 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Holzman wrote the Tony-nominated book for the “Wicked” Broadway musical, which won three Tony Awards: Best Actress in a Musical (for Idina Menzel), Best Scenic Design and Best Costume Design.
The “Wicked” movie is a faithful adaptation of the stage musical, which has two acts. The “Wicked” movie shows the events that happen in Act One of the stage musical. Just like in the musical, “Wicked” begins with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (played by Ariana Grande), arriving in a pink bubble announcing to the residents of Oz that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead. Everyone rejoices at this news, as a giant Wicked Witch statue made of tree branches burns during this celebration.
But when a woman in the crowd asks Glinda if it’s true that Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West used to be friends, Glinda looks sad and admits it’s true. She then tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West and how they became frenemies when they were roommates at Shiz University. The movie then switches to flashback mode as this story is told.
The Wicked Witch of the West’s real name was Elphaba Thropp, who was born with green skin. Elphaba’s skin tone is a horror and an embarrassment to her parents Melena Thropp (played by Courtney Mae-Briggs) and Frexspar Thropp (played by Andy Nyman), who are prominent members of Oz society because Frexspar is the governor of Oz. Karis Musongole has the role of Elphaba as a child. Cynthia Erivo has the role of Elphaba as an adult.
Elphaba was conceived from a secret affair that Melena had with another man, whose identify is revealed in the second part of the “Wicked” musical. Even though Elphaba is not Frexspar’s biological child, he is her legal father, but she is treated as a burden by her parents because of her green skin and because there are indications that she has witch powers. Frexspar and Melena later have a biological daughter named Nessarose, who has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair. Cesily Collette Taylor has the role of Nessarose as a child. Marissa Bode has the role of Nessarose as an adult.
Even though Elphaba is treated as inferior to Nessarose, Elphaba is very loving and protective of her younger sister. From a young age, Elphaba experienced bullying and ostracism because of her green skin and because she has obvious magical abilities that have made people believe that she’s a witch. “Wicked” makes a point of showing that whether Elphaba could be considered a “villain” or an “anti-hero,” she probably would have been a different person if she hadn’t been bullied so much in her youth. Elphaba is an example of someone who is repeatedly treated as “wicked” until she eventually decides to become the “wicked” person that other people think she is.
As a young adult, Nessarose enrolls in Shiv University, which has special courses for those who have magical abilities. Elphaba tags along to look after Nessarose on the first day that Nessarose has arrived at Shiv University. But an intimidation incident causes Elphaba to create some chaos with her magical abilities, by making objects get thrown in the air. In order to protect Elphaba from being persecuted as a witch, Shiv University’s dean of sorcery studies Madam Morrible (played by Michelle Yeoh) lies to the students and says that Madam Morrible was the one who caused this chaos through magic.
Madam Morrible decides that she will mentor Elphaba and gets Elphaba enrolled in the university so Madam Morrible can be Elphaba’s private tutor. Madam Morrible also decides that Elphaba will be the roommate of Galinda Upland (played by Grande), who is also a first-year Shiv University student. (It’s explained later why Galinda changes her name to Glinda.) Galinda is privileged, spoiled, shallow and cares a great deal about being the most popular student in the school.
Predictably, Galinda and Elphaba clash with each other while also developing a gradual mutual respect for each other. Further complicating matters is the fact that Elphaba and Galinda both have crushes on a dashing but vain student named Fiyaro (played by Jonathan Bailey), who is very attracted to Galinda and begins dating her. Meanwhile, a Munchkin named Boq (played by Ethan Slater) has a crush on Galinda, while Nessarose is attracted to Boq. Galinda encourages Boq to date Nessarose so that Boq won’t focus so much of his attention on Galinda.
Other characters who are in the movie include a talking goat professor named Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), an outspoken animal-rights activist who faces discrimination when Oz officials decide that animals should no longer talk and should be kept in cages. The Wizard of Oz (played by Jeff Goldblum) appears in the last third of the movie, where the majority of the action scenes take place. Providing much of the comic relief are two Shiv University students named ShenShen (played by Bronwyn James) and Pfannee (played by Bowen Yang), who are bullying phonies and gossipy snobs. Original “Wicked” Broadway stars Menzel (who played Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (who played Galinda/Glinda) make cameo appearances as Wiz-o-mania superstars.
“Wicked” has the expected songs (written by Stephen Schwartz) from the stage musical, including “What Is This Feeling?,” “Popular” and “The Wizard and I” (one of the movie’s performance highlights) and the show-stopping “Defying Gravity.” Erivo is the clear standout with her skillful acting and exceptional singing, while Grande gives a worthy counterpoint performance with Galinda/Glinda’s intentionally affected mannerisms. All of the other cast members who have prominent song-and-dance roles handle their performances capably.
“Wicked” has fantastic production design and costume design. The movie’s visual effects are also well-done. Where the movie falters a little bit is that it gets too repetitive in showing the bullying, jealousies and insecurities that affect the interpersonal relationships. At least 40 minutes of this movie could’ve been cut from the film, and it wouldn’t have made a difference to the overall story. Even though the plot gets stretched out for too long, “Wicked” has more than enough to maintain viewer interest for people who are inclined to like musicals.
Universal Pictures will release “Wicked” in U.S. cinemas on November 22, 2024. Sneak previews of the movie took place in U.S. cinemas on November 18 and November 20, 2024.
