Wicked (2024) Review: This Epic Movie Musical Soars With Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s Enchanting Performances

As the second highest-grossing Broadway musical of all time behind The Lion King, it’s only a matter of time before Wicked gets a big-screen treatment. Not one but two movies with the follow-up currently slated for next November. It was a huge and risky undertaking, considering the total budget for the two movies reportedly cost US$320 million. I get that the long-running Broadway musical, which is still ongoing since 2003, has a huge fanbase worldwide. But the trailers which have been released so far barely convinced me this will be a stellar movie musical.

So, I went in with low expectations and after sitting through nearly three hours (160 minutes, to be exact), credit goes to Jon M. Chu for successfully transporting me into the magical world of the Land of Oz right from the get-go. Chu insists on shooting Wicked as practical as possible and this includes building the elaborate set for the colourful Munchkinland that opens the movie. It looks stunning with Chu’s gliding camerawork and Alice Brooks’ majestic cinematography captures the establishing shot of the vast tulip field (Chu and his crew actually planted 9 million of them just for the movie) and the Munchkinland’s village town.

From here, we are introduced to Glinda the Good Witch of the North (Ariana Grande) arriving in town to make an important announcement that delighted the citizens of Munchkinland. We learn that her name isn’t initially Glinda but rather Galinda as the story continues in extended flashbacks, beginning with her arrival at Shiz University. She’s a popular girl who loves all the attention that she can get. She is particularly interested in learning the art of sorcery under the guidance of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh, in her commanding turn except for her wobbly, albeit minor singing part), the headmistress of the Shiz University.

But Madame only insists on a student who is qualified and special enough, which she later sees in Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), who arrives with her wheelchair-bound paraplegic Nessarose (Marissa Bode). Elphaba’s appearance, especially her unusually green skin has disgusted many students but she cares less about what others think of her. After an unexpected incident where Madame is impressed by what she saw, she assigns Elphaba to live as a roommate with the disgruntled Galinda.

Working from Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox’s adapted screenplay, Chu takes his deliberate time establishing the relationship between the narcissistic and outgoing Galinda and the shy Elphaba. They don’t see things eye to eye at first, especially with Madame favouring Elphaba over her as the sole student for the sorcery class. The chemistry between Galinda and Elphaba immediately clicks, first as mismatched roommates before they eventually set their differences aside and become friends.

I didn’t expect much when singer Ariana Grande was cast for such an iconic role but she surprised me with her better-than-expected performance, even going as far as stealing the show in many scenes. She nails the personality of a superficial, selfish and even egotistical young woman. Her unexpectedly excellent comedic timing is worth mentioning here as she hams it up pretty well with her recurring hair-flipping moments. Not surprisingly, she excels in some of her song numbers, notably the monumental “No One Mourns the Wicked” and the bubbly “Popular”.

Wicked also features Cynthia Erivo in one of her best performances as the misunderstood Elphaba, who is just as good at belting out her songs. Erivo brings substantial depth to her character arc, which delves into her transformation from socially awkward to a take-charge, outspoken student, especially in the second half of the movie. As for the rest of the supporting cast, Peter Dinklage delivers affectionate voice work to his talking-goat and history-professor character Dr Dillamond while Marissa Bode does a good job playing Elphaba’s sympathetic paraplegic young sister Nessarose. Then, there’s Jonathan Bailey, whose debonair charm hits all the right notes as Prince Fiyero Tigelaar.

Wicked culminates in the movie’s most memorable moment — the eventual truth about the elusive Wonderful Wizard of Oz played to sly perfection by Jeff Goldblum and the subsequent Erivo and Grande’s scene-stealing duet soars through the big screen with its remarkable number “Defying Gravity”. Chu’s mix of practical effects and CGI, Nathan Crowley’s opulent production design covering from the Munchkinland to Shiz University and Emerald City, and Paul Tazewell’s gorgeous costume design are all technically impressive.

Despite the movie clocking a mammoth 160 minutes, Chu’s overall assured direction keeps me invested in the journey of Glinda and Elphaba without overstaying its welcome. Chu’s camerawork in some of the song-and-dance sequences tends to look visually rigid at times but even with its shortcomings, Wicked still deserves a spot as one of the best stage-to-screen adaptations ever made. Now, I’m eager to see how the second part of Wicked will fare next November.