DEFYING GRAVITY
There's One Reason Why This 'Wicked' Film Is The Adaptation We've Always Wanted
After a torturous wait, the big screen adaptation of Stephen Schwartz's 2003 musical "Wicked" is upon us, and the response is glowing.
Jon Chu, the director of "Crazy Rich Asians," has put together a masterful production that pays homage to the stage play and the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel it is based on, and did the right thing by letting the films evolve into something bigger than before.
With over 130 reviews counted, it's sitting pretty with a 92 percent "certified fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes and a decimal average of 8.1/10. Considering how catastrophic some musical adaptations like "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Cats" have been in recent years, "Wicked" diehards must be happy to see a response like that.
Having recently seen the touring 20th anniversary production, we were reminded how condensed the stage show really is. Letting the first part breathe (it's over two-and-a-half hours long) has allowed these astounding performances the space they need to shine.
Chopping the story in half was a good decision
As Glinda (Ariana Grande), the Good Witch of the North, tells us, this will be "the whole story." Except, that's not actually true. This is half of "the whole story." "Wicked Part Two" arrives next Christmas. It's not, though, much of an issue โ Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox's script doesn't feel unnecessarily dragged out, primarily as "Part One" contains the real meat of the story.
For now, like Denis Villeneuve's first "Dune," this "Wicked" manages to end on a note of "to be continued" while still feeling like a complete story.
Cynthia Erivo steals the show
Fueled by exquisite performances from Tony winner Erivo ("The Color Purple"), as Elphaba, or the Wicked Witch of the West, and Grammy winner Grande as Glinda the Good Witch, "Wicked" is the best movie musical in years, representing a rare instance when performances, visuals and songs are of equally high quality.
There's a [galvanizing] sincerity to "Wicked," the long-awaited adaptation of the hit musical which traces the back-story of the witches of Oz. It's so doggedly faithful to the show, so emphatically orchestrated and so powered by Cynthia Erivo's exceptional performance, that resistance to its 169 minutes of theme park magic becomes futile. This is a film that leaves nothing in the wings โ except for an entire second act, and a sequel which has already been shot.
You're still losing something by leaving the stage behind
The seams don't show, but the movie can still drag. The grandiosity of theatrical spectacle relies on a sense of wonder very different from the awe generated by the moving image. Being in the same room as the smoke and the cherry pickers and the performers belting out the tunes has a ritualistic fervor that is nothing like the experience of watching something unfold in two dimensions. "Wicked" the movie's images are big, to be sure, but they're also often shallow; they don't draw our attention further into the image, nor do they inspire curiosity about this world. They impress in scale but not in depth. And the film keeps hammering home themes it's established, sometimes to its detriment.
Elphaba's feelings of inadequacy and undesirability become less convincing after several notable character turns, especially once we sense where everything is headed. That is perhaps "Wicked's" greatest problem. Despite its status as a revisionist reinvention of a classic text, so much of it feels preordained, even programmed. We wait not for revelations or surprises, but for affirmation and escalation. "Wicked" is as enchanting as it is exhausting.
[Vulture]
The internet reacts
sobbing, what a full circle moment. she really manifested this
โ kk ๐ (@nasasmiles) November 20, 2024
โ mina ๐ฆ (@minaknewbetter) November 20, 2024
i can't wait to see it friday i'm literally dying over the fact im gonna hear ariana singing no one mourns the wicked. and she's playing one of my fav characters like๐ญ๐ญ๐ซถ pic.twitter.com/1xptPjMoz9
โ moonโธโธ wicked era (@swiftsprophecy) November 19, 2024
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have arrived at the final premiere of โWICKED.โ
โ Pop Base (@popbase.tv) November 18, 2024 at 1:11 PM
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oh they are SERVING, holy!
โ ๐ ๐ ๐ป ๐ต๐ท (@anaisenpai.bsky.social) November 18, 2024 at 1:11 PM
Cynthia Erivo attending the UK premiere of Wicked (2024)
โ linda (@itgirlenergyy.bsky.social) November 18, 2024 at 1:55 PM
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In Schiaparelli couture aw24
โ linda (@itgirlenergyy.bsky.social) November 18, 2024 at 1:56 PM
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"Wicked" will see a wide release in North America on November 22, 2024.
Watch the trailer:
[Image: Universal Pictures]
