The Cinema Boy’s review published on Letterboxd:
And goodness knows the wicked’s lives are lonely. And goodness knows the wicked die alone. But who is the wicked? How much of life is agenda fueled propaganda? Even in Oz? Refusing to conform can lead you down a path of being projected as the enemy by the real one. Most people aren’t all good or all evil and their perspectives and choices are more complicated than black and white. Glinda isn’t a bad person but she will comply to authority to advance. Elphaba is a person with moral clarity and purpose refusing to be corrupted by immorality in others who then project a false image of her in her defiance to minimize her as a consequence. These themes can be and are universally felt and acknowledged as intellectually stimulating allegories and examples of the consequences in the ways one walks through life and circumstances in the real world. The Broadway smash cultural phenomenon musical sensation “Wicked” arrived in 2003 and took the culture by storm. The music, the magic of the characters contextualized in a new way and the world of Oz overall re-contextualized and matured stunned and moved many, the pathos and revelations towards different perspectives about what really happened before Dorothy arrived became indelible for many who watched, immersing audiences in a complex and nuanced portrayal of the notoriously known wicked witch of the west. The best thing about “Wicked” the musical is that it takes aforementioned well known context and reestablishes it boldly, creatively and assuredly. Who is good and who is bad is a matter of knowing the full facts of the story and this picture has no issue holding up these modalities about propaganda, agendas and power with reverence for the source materials bold swings in this theatrical adaptation. Oppression and the fallacy of fear-mongering the other, and the consequences it has for everyone on a large scale is also emphasized in new complex ways in this picture that the musical didn’t dive into as much. Nevertheless, this “part one” is also only telling half of its impactful narrative in this movie that is technically longer than the entire stage production is in full, as studio greed has turned the sensational and intellectually stimulating “Wicked” into two feature length films that as of the time of this writing one can’t watch back to back; for someone not familiar with the source material upfront, watching the entire narrative is crucial to enjoyment, and even if it leaves a mark, ending this picture on the intermission of the musical…doing that and calling it a complete picture, has no precedence because it’s narratively hollow to do so, and will leave audiences with the feeling that it’s not a full story on display (and it isn’t). And now we have arrived at “Wicked: Part I”, it’s release one of the most anticipated of the year. The first half of the stage production mixed with extended sequences and additional depth provided from the book is the entire picture to take in, an aforementioned intermission is now a climax. Leaving this film I was left to ponder, does “Wicked” work as an elongated picture divided into two parts? The answer is, mostly yes. I’ve taken in the picture three times as of the time of this writing including on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve both times with my Mom; when this picture flies it truly soars emotionally and memorably. This is a joy of an experience to behold on the big screen. But not for the uninitiated, likely. It’s possibly imperative to emphasize that knowing the source material and liking it goes a long way here. With the elongated feeling like a directors cut special edition rendering as the theatrical experience, pacing and overall narrative flow will work better for the initiated who know we are taking our time with the unfolding of this one as opposed to casual viewers who might leave the theater feeling like they didn’t see a complete picture narratively. Because again, they didn’t. There is an entire other half to the story that will then lead to discerned knowing about the pieces intentions overall. Imagine turning off any movie half way through. It will likely feel disjointed and incomplete accordingly. The entire thesis statement and overall landing of the piece can’t be measured unless and until the full story is showcased on display. This is a film that will play best a year from now where it can be watched back to back with its sequel as a bombastic and aforementioned elongated celebration for all things Wicked. The music in the picture really is spectacular. Every song is a banger and enjoyable and a handful of them are iconic. I first took in Wicked on Broadway in 2004 before the original cast closed. I also have performed “Dancing Through Life” in order to get into the FAME school in New Jersey which I did get in and attended briefly when I was 16 years old. “Wicked” and me go way back. I am also aware of the incredible popularity regarding the material and that it is one of Broadways highest earners ever. The characters, the storyline and the aforementioned music are all indelible. The execution in this picture as I’ve briefly already mentioned, works more than not, but there are waves of energy ups and downs in this first parter. Some of this feels on the verge of pedantic and bland and unnecessary while other moments completely took me in and made me emotional. I feel like some of the charm of the stage production was absent in this theatrical rendering but the picture has its moments where it really shines in different ways that a stage production can’t. There are a handful of times where director Jon M. Chu really uses the tools of the cinematic experience at his disposal to actually take “Wicked” to another level visually and tangibly, meshing the music with live action in compelling and stimulating ways. The entire experience lands more positively than not. The best song and most engaging externalized cinematic moment has to be “What Is This Feeling”. “Dancing Through Life”, “The Wizard and I”, “No One Mourns The Wicked”, “Popular” and “Defying Gravity” are all wonderfully performed and executed as well. So much greatness in song. Cynthia Erivo brings Elphaba to life wonderfully. She brings an emotional complexity to the role flawlessly. Her physicality in this part is something to behold. Ariana Grande is mesmerizing as Glinda, albeit a little mechanically rendered, she shines and showcases a true charisma and star quality in every frame. You can also tell she loves the role and the material and is bringing her everything to this performance. I can see both of these women getting awards nominations for this work. I especially after three viewings feel like Grande will win best supporting actress at the Oscars this year. It just feels like an awards winning performance that is truly pitch perfect upon further inspection. Jonathan Bailey looks too old to be a college student and maybe sticks out in the wrong ways in this ensemble but he does have swarmy and conceited energy vibes down pat. On rewatches he is a stand out in the picture alongside the two lead women regardless of material presented on screen in this first half lacking nuance; the second half of the story for his character is more interesting material for him to show skill with. Cutting off the narrative halfway through leaves his character the most diluted, needing the second half of the story to showcase a fully formed performance and three dimensional role that is not present in only showing this first part. Jeff Goldblum is fine but disposable as the Wizard. A true con man, the emphasis on his characters duplicity can be more fleshed out in part two as well. A lot of this picture spent time establishing the two women and not much else. These supporting roles have larger impact in the second half of the musical. Michelle Yeoh was pretty pointless as Madame Morrible. She is goofier in the musical at least on the surface as a character hiding something more sinister but here Yeoh plays the role flat and deadly serious throughout. Peter Dinklage, who handicapped midget actors from getting roles by speaking out against it, ironically leads a voice performance about segregation and oppression. Casting him feels lame honestly. Ethan Slater and Marissa Bode as Boq and Nessarose made me emotional because I love those characters on stage and while they are completely superfluous in this picture, they are the essence of “Wicked” to me along with the main characters. Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth’s inclusion was very random and inside baseball of them. Much like everything in the elongated first part, the scene with them goes on for too long and feels like it is too meta and self aware, this picture is not always desiring to be high art however, it just wants to be a fun celebration of this material. And that it is! Here is some trivia on the picture: The name of the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, was created by taking the phonetic pronunciation of the original "Wizard of Oz" author L. Frank Baum's initials, L-F-B, which became Elphaba. Practical sets were built and supplemented with CGI rather than being filmed on green or blue screens. Director Jon M. Chu wanted the world of Oz to feel like a real place rather than just a computer-generated background. This included planting 9 million tulips to serve as part of the landscape for Munchkinland. It has been reported many times that Idina Menzel wanted to portray Elphaba in this version, but she eventually revealed that she thought she was too old for the role. During an interview with Andy Cohen she said she would happily have a smaller cameo such as Melena, the wicked witch's mother. In L. Frank Baum's original "Oz" novels, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South. The Wizard of Oz (1939) moved her title to the North for timing. Like the Wicked Witch's green skin, this is another aspect original to the 1939 feature. The leading duo insisted on singing live during filming. According to director Jon M. Chu, "When we were shooting it, those girls were like, 'F--- the pre-records. We're going live.'" He was initially skeptical of this, since there would be "a lot of wind" in their air pipes as they performed the more complex sequences while maintaining their singing voices. They simply replied, "Yeah. That's what we do." In an interview with Australian outlet Popcorn Podcast, Jonathan Bailey said that the horse he rode in this film is the same horse that he rode when portraying Anthony in Bridgerton (2020). Bailey reportedly felt a connection to the horse Jack when making that series. Since his character in "Wicked" has a horse, he asked for Jack. The Wicked Witch of the West is not green in L. Frank Baum's original "Oz" novels. She is depicted as an old hag with three pigtails and an eyepatch. The green skin was originally conceived for The Wizard of Oz (1939), from which author Gregory Maguire chose to derive his own literary work. "Wicked" is one of many different adaptations of the "Oz" world that have incorporated the green skin aspect, such as Once Upon a Time (2011) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). It was revealed in early Nov. 2024 that Mattel accidentally printed the url to an adult film site (which is very similar to the official movie website) on the back of packaging for Glinda and Elphaba dolls. Mattell said a recall was in process but many of them had already hit eBay as collector items. Amanda Seyfried was actively pursuing the role of Glinda before Ariana Grande was cast. Seyfried stated in past interviews that she took voice lessons to prepare for her audition. While she was shooting The Dropout (2022), she went back and forth, and auditioned in person several times on the weekends to play Glinda. Filming started 20 years after "Wicked" debuted on Broadway. The show is still at the Gershwin Theatre as of 2024. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande's performances during their audition reportedly brought Jon M. Chu and the crew to tears. Chu also emphasized on X (formerly Twitter) that "everyone had to audition. No straight offers [...]. It was incredibly humbling to witness these actors spill their guts on the floor for this movie." Prior to their casting, both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande previously performed in concert events for "Wicked," with Grande performing a song typically sung by Elphaba during A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway (2018), and Erivo performing a song typically sung by Glinda. The original novel has a sequel, "Son of a Witch," published in 2005. Gregory Maguire dedicated it to Broadway's "Wicked" cast and crew. It was announced in April 2022 that this film would be split into two parts. Director Jon M. Chu posted the news on Twitter, explaining, "As we prepared this production over the last year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of 'Wicked' into a single film without doing some real damage to it. So we decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas. With more space, we can tell the story of Wicked as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys of these beloved characters." After the novel's debut in 1995, Demi Moore was set to produce the movie adaptation with Marc Platt. The project was delayed due to the development of the stage musical. Pfannee is traditionally played onstage by a woman. The character was changed to male so that Bowen Yang could portray the role. In October 2024, a fan of the "Wicked" musical edited the movie poster to resemble the classic stage play poster. The fan lowered the brim of Cynthia Erivo's hat to cover her eyes and colored her lips red instead of green. He also turned her scowl into a sly smile and raised Ariana Grande's hand to cover more of her face. Erivo disliked these changes, stating on social media that "This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen . . . None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us . . . to edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful." Her reaction spurred a backlash by multiple fans accusing her of overreacting. They also defended the fan who altered the poster art. Erivo later added that she was being "protective of the role. I probably should've called my friends [before her online clapback]". Ariana Grande, who portrays Glinda, previously worked with Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role in the Broadway musical, in Hairspray Live! (2016). Idina Menzel originated the role of Elphaba on stage. She is famous for starring the Frozen (2013) films as Elsa, with whom Elphaba's character shares some similarities: they are both socially outcast; both stories feature a bubbly, fun-loving opposite (Anna in "Frozen" and Galinda in "Wicked") that immediately falls for a guy only to find out that his feelings do not match their own; and Elsa's signature song "Let It Go" shares similar themes with Elphaba's song "Defying Gravity" - finding empowerment and self-confidence in the midst of social hostility. For her debut album "Yours Truly" in 2013, alongside Mika, Ariana Grande sung "Popular Song," a song inspired by and that samples "Popular" from "Wicked." This movie has been rated PG and, like the stage version, turns down the more sexual or mature aspects from the source novel. For instance, Melena gives birth to Elphaba after having an affair with the Wizard; Elphaba is a fully realized, sexual woman who has various sex scenes with Fiyero; Melena seduces Turtle Heart, who also becomes sexually involved with her husband Frexpar; and baby Elphaba is portrayed as being fed with blood. Ariana Grande is named in the credits as playing 'Galinda/Glinda' and uses her full name - Ariana Grande Butera. 2024 Films Ranked The Best Live Action Musicals Ever
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