I’ll admit I was skeptical when I heard that they were breaking up the film version of Wicked into two movies. Like most Broadway musicals and operas, the show was made to be digested in one evening. Fortunately, the results fully justify the decision, and the movie does more than just stand up on its own. It improves on the stage spectacle in spectacular ways.
If you’re not familiar with Gregory Maguire’s novel or the Broadway musical, which were both imagined as a revisionist prequel to The Wizard of Oz, here’s the plot: Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is a girl in Oz who is bullied for her green skin until she accompanies her younger sister (Marissa Bode) to her first day of college at Shiz University — think Hogwarts with a lot more pink. The stress of being in public makes Elphaba perform an uncontrolled burst of magic, which catches the eye of a professor (Michelle Yeoh), who seldom encounters students with genuine magical ability. She enrolls Elphaba in the college and sticks her in a room with spoiled rich girl Galinda (Ariana Grande), who will later drop the first “a” in her name.
If you’re familiar with the show, the subplot about the people of Oz locking up animals works even better now than it did when the musical first ran, and it’s supplemented by Shiz’ administrators giving a whitewashed version of Oz’ history and firing professors who don’t fall in line. (Hmm, sounds familiar.) Other parts here would be difficult to do in the theater, such as the Ozians burning a Wicker Man-like effigy of the Wicked Witch of the West and Elphaba and Glinda trying unsuccessfully to make an escape in the wizard’s hot air balloon.
This 160-minute epic covers only the first act of the show, but in the hands of director Jon M. Chu, it comes off as maximalist rather than bloated. He brings the little touches, like when Elphaba sings about the possibility of not being green and strolls under a stained-glass mobile that reflects different colors on her skin. Also, Chu moves his camera in tandem with the choreography of Christopher Scott (who worked with Chu on In the Heights) so that we don’t lose the sense of where large numbers of dancers are moving. Compare Mean Girls, where the big set pieces tend to become muddy because the camera and choreo aren’t in sync. We don’t get that here.
The two lead actresses both have operatic singing range, but the vocal contributions come from everywhere in the cast. Jeff Goldblum portrays the Wizard of Oz and manages to deliver “A Sentimental Man” in a wobbly voice that fits the character and the staging, where the wizard performs some shadow theater and bats an inflatable moon up in the air. When Elphaba and Glinda reach the Emerald City, they see a live theater show with a surprise that’s too good to spoil. Jonathan Bailey plays the handsome prince who enrolls at Shiz, and the Bridgerton star displays some springy moves in “Dancing Through Life,” which he performs inside a rotating bookshelf, a neat bit of staging. This would be enough to steal away a lesser film.
Grande loses some of the enunciation on some of her high notes, but she does acquit herself well as an antagonist who’s more complicated than she seems. She really does nail the vibe of a coddled girl with a bitchy, “me first” streak, and she sings “Popular” while swinging from a chandelier and makes the simple act of flopping down on a bed into something funny. More impressive is the way the two-time Grammy winner portrays someone who comes around to a grudging respect for Elphaba and a sympathy for her rebellion against Oz.
Yet she can’t take the spotlight from Erivo, whose sense of phrasing and inflections in the lyrics prop up Stephen Schwartz’ complex and discursive songs such as “The Wizard and I” and “I’m Not That Girl.” The entire movie might collapse if not for her skillful handling of these reflective numbers. She doesn’t lack for vocal beauty either, and the big climax of “Defying Gravity” blows out all the lights in the Emerald City. With Erivo singing it (and striking a power pose in midair), you can believe that would happen. She doesn’t just sing the showstopper. She is the showstopper, and all that’s left to wonder is what Wicked can do for an encore. We’ll find out soon enough.
Wicked
Starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Directed by Jon M. Chu. Written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, based on Holzman’s musical libretto and Gregory Maguire’s novel. Rated PG.
