‘Wicked’ Review: The Film Deserves Its Delusions of Grandeur

Let us rejoicify, indeed. After languishing in developmental hell for over a decade, “Wicked” has at long last arrived on the silver screen. With an incredible cast and a creative team intent on honoring its theatrical roots, the film is a glittering triumph that pays tribute to the original Broadway musical and is sure to please diehard fans and newcomers alike.

“Wicked” was always a movie with everything to prove. For director Jon M. Chu, it served as redemption for his 2021 adaptation of “In The Heights,” a critically acclaimed Broadway musical that stumbled at the box office. For Ariana Grande, the pop star of “thank u, next” fame, it was her chance to silence accusations of stunt casting and prove herself as Glinda the Good.

The film itself faced the Herculean task of living up to its relentless and never-ending marketing campaign, which painted the world in pinks and greens, from Starbucks drinks to color-changing mac and cheese. But incredibly, “Wicked” lives up to its own hype.

“Wicked” opens with “No One Mourns the Wicked,” in which Grande’s Glinda floats down from the heavens in a translucent pink bubble — an homage to her counterpart in the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz.” Grande trained for months to make her voice more operatic, work which pays off as she trills and thrills in the latter half of the song. The movie medium enhances the emotional nuance: Glinda’s fleeting sorrow as the Munchkins celebrate the demise of the Wicked Witch of the West — also known as Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) — is a subtlety impossible to capture from a seat at the Gershwin Theatre. By the song’s end, any doubts about Grande’s casting are definitively dispelled. She was born to play this role.

Jonathan Bailey is Fiyero, the charismatic prince whose slacker persona conceals a heart of gold. Bailey, already tenured at being a man in love from his past work in “Bridgerton” and “Fellow Travelers,” levels up in “Wicked” with absurd magnetism. In his first ten minutes of screen time, Bailey has palpable chemistry with nearly everyone he encounters, including Elphaba, Glinda, a librarian, and two students fortunate enough to be in his line of sight. Despite Fiyero’s outrageous flirtatiousness, Bailey imbues him with tender vulnerability, which makes him irresistibly human. His interactions with Erivo, in particular, resonate with humor and warmth, allowing the audience to catch glimpses of what lies beneath the blasé facade.

But the emotional core of the film is undoubtedly Erivo’s portrayal of Elphaba, who plays the straight man to Glinda’s slapstick eccentricities with a determined earnestness. Elphaba’s bravado crumbles as she navigates the world of Shiz University, helped along by her interactions with Glinda and Fiyero. A pivotal scene in Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship occurs in the swankified Ozdust Ballroom, where Erivo’s raw vulnerability as the ostracized Elphaba proves devastating to watch. Her performance adds a layer to the character’s emotional nuances, drawing audiences in with her relatability.

The musical numbers of “Wicked,” though, are undoubtedly what steal the show. All of Act I’s songs from the original production remain intact, a rare occurrence for movie musicals. Chu takes full advantage of this luxury, treating each song as a spectacle. Christopher Scott’s elaborate choreography makes for outstanding dance numbers, while Nathan Crowley’s lavish sets breathe life into the world of Oz.

“Dancing Through Life” features a spinning library and acrobatic choreography that showcases Fiyero’s charisma, while “One Short Day” romps through a beautifully imagined Emerald City and its dizzying sights and sounds. It’s not quite technicolor — Chu’s predilection for backlighting, though not as catastrophic as the trailers suggested, does wash out certain scenes — but the sheer scale of the production dazzles, making such missteps forgivable.

The only underwhelming number from the show is “The Wizard and I,” where awkward camera cuts, questionable sound mixing, and less dynamic choreography fail to allow this fan-favorite song to reach its full potential. Though Erivo’s incredible vocal ability salvages the climax, the beginning of the song feels muted, leaving Elphaba’s yearning for acceptance less impactful than elsewhere in the film.

The team behind “Wicked” are aware of the expectations of theater kids filing in to watch the movie, and they have accordingly stuffed the movie with Easter eggs and crowd-pleasing lines lifted directly from the original musical. Glinda’s self-congratulatory “That’s what makes me so nice!” and the iconic “Why couldn’t you have stayed calm for once, instead of flying off the handle?” act as playful winks to long-time fans of the musical, clueing them in before the cast launches into song.

At a monstrous two hours and 40 minutes, “Wicked” eclipses its Broadway runtime, even as it covers only the musical’s first act. But Chu’s bold decision is largely vindicated, and much of the extended run time is used judiciously. The extended length allows Shiz University to flourish with intricate detail, and the legend of the Grimmerie — the spellbook that only a select few can read — is further expounded on, told with the help of a few crowd-pleasing cameos.

It’s not hard to imagine, however, a snappier version of the movie. A bit about the Wizard asking Glinda and Elphaba to help pick the color of the Yellow Brick Road feels pat — fan service gone too far, perhaps? — and the buildup to Glinda and Elphaba’s dance in the Ozdust Ballroom could have been tighter to let the emotional connection between the two breathe on its own.

Nevertheless, Chu understands that “Wicked” is a love story between Elphaba and Glinda, and a testament to the life-altering power of friendship and goodness. His affection for the source material shines through — most evidently in the Easter eggs nestled throughout the movie, and most movingly, perhaps, in the litany of previous Glindas and Elphabas who feature as vocalists in the film’s credits.

For all it had to prove, “Wicked” also shouldered another enormous burden: to revive faith in the movie musical genre, whose reputation was tarnished by disasters like “Cats.” And yet, against all odds — despite the sky-high expectations on its director, its cast, and on the genre itself — “Wicked” defies gravity.

—Staff writer Angelina X. Ng can be reached at angelina.ng@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @angelinaxng.