So, you’ve got a Broadway musical with a 20-year legacy, millions of devoted fans who know every lyric by heart and themes of friendship and prejudice that resonate with all ages. But how do you preserve those profound messages and bring them to the big screen? “Wicked,”- directed by Jon M. Chu and released over Thanksgiving break, tackles these challenges distinctly well and brings Glinda and Elphaba’s story to life.
“Wicked” boasts a star-studded cast, with famous singers Ariana Grande as Glidna and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Both actors give stellar performances, with Erivo’s powerful voice capturing Elphaba’s inner turmoil and Grande’s bubbly persona creating impeccable comedic timing.
According to Palo Alto High School theater student and junior Raeya Wohlmorantz, the movie’s casting was spot-on.
“I didn’t know her [Grande] as a performer, so I was a little unsure, but she blew me out of the water,” Wohlmorantz said. “All the casting was great. The only one that maybe could’ve been better was Jeff Goldblum. I thought he was okay, but not that crazy.”
While the lead actors shine, a supporting role like the Wizard of Oz feels underdeveloped. Jeff Goldblum delivers admirable performances, but their characters lack sufficient complexity to match the lead actors. This imbalance makes some dramatic moments fall flat.
Paly theater student Aether Yun said the film version of “Wicked” respects the choreography of the original musical, unlike other movie adaptations.
“I saw the ‘Mean Girls’ musical, and I was not a fan of the way that they redid almost all of the songs,” Yun said. “However, for ‘Wicked,’ it was different enough with the voices and also the backing, but it was still so similar. They feel at the same level or better, or like elevated, which I really appreciated.”
Clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the first installment of the two-part adaptation of “Wicked” stretches out for longer than the entire original production. This indicates Chu’s unwillingness to remove any part of the original musical, but this approach leads to moments where the story feels like it’s being dragged on — Fiyero’s library song, for instance, feels extraneous and unnecessarily long, contributing little to the plot.
According to an X post Chu made in 2022, fitting the entire musical into one movie would have negatively affected its quality.
“It would be impossible to wrestle the story of ‘Wicked’ into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” Chu said. “As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years.”
Every member of the cast shows the personality of the character they play almost perfectly. Movies can show facial expressions a lot better in musicals, and Erivo takes advantage of this throughout the movie. In the scene where Erivo arrives at Shiz University, she doesn’t express the feeling of exclusion with hostility toward the other students. Instead, she stays quiet and lets the camera do the work, which feels much more realistic.
Visually, Wicked utilizes bright lighting and elaborate set designs. A CBS interview with Chu revealed that sets as large as four football fields were used to enhance the cinematic experience. This creates an impressive scenery that doesn’t feel too artificial. However, during the “Dancing through Life” scene and toward the end of the movie, the overuse of bright background lighting overpowers the characters, making it difficult to watch.
Overall, we highly recommend this movie to anyone who is in music or theater, as it is a fun and impressive production that remains faithful to the original musical. While its ambitious attempt to remain faithful can lead to uneven pacing, breathtaking visuals and exceptional performances by Erivo and Grande elevate the film past its flaws. As the introductory part of this adaptation, it sets the stage for an exciting climax and conclusion.
