Film Review: Wicked (Part One)

Like every other theatre kid out there I’ve been waiting years for a film adaptation of Wicked — remember when we were told that a Wicked film was going to come out in 2019? The hype around this movie has been pretty insane, and of course, it had to come out during a super busy time for me. However, I finally got to see the film this month, and I definitely had a lot of thoughts, so I figured I had to share them with you all! Please note that there will be spoilers for the film, so if you haven’t seen it yet and you don’t want to be spoiled, wait to read this until you see it!

Get comfy and cozy and get ready to hear all of my thoughts on Wicked (part one…).

Title: Wicked
Director: Jon M. Chu
Choreographer: Christopher Scott
Screenplay: Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox
Musical Book: Winnie Holzman
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Based On: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage
Rating: ★★★.75

I won’t lie, since the casting for the film was announced back in 2021, I have had my reservations and then with every new piece of news released about the film (aside from the casting of Jonathan Bailey tbh) I have been a certified Wicked film hater. I was not particularly fond of the casting of Ariana Grande (okay, that’s me being generous), I was not a fan of splitting it into two movies, I was sorely disappointed by the trailer, and some of Cynthia Ervio’s comments throughout the press tour have left a very sour taste in my mouth — and I haven’t been quiet about these opinions. However, I never doubted for a moment that I’d be seeing the film, and I did want to reserve full judgement until I saw it..

With my schedule being so jam-packed since October, it took 3 weeks before I could see the movie and I’ll be so honest, I felt like my theatre fan card was going to be revoked if I hadn’t gotten my butt to a movie theater to see it, so I took the first opportunity I had. I’m happy to say that I enjoyed the movie a whole lot more than I thought I was going to, which was definitely a relief! I still had a lot of notes/little things that bothered me (that I don’t think would’ve actually bothered most people) but I had a really good time watching the movie. That said, let’s talk about what I liked and what I didn’t like!

My biggest gripe is still the fact that they separated it into two films. If you can make a Les Mis film in one movie, you can do the same for Wicked. They didn’t change much from the first act of Wicked for the film — even with the additional music/lyrics in One Short Day (which I loved) and the extension of the scene that leads up to Defying Gravity. I honestly would’ve sat in that theater watching the movie for however long it needed to be to be able to watch the entire story at once. I think for people who don’t know the stage show, there are some things that don’t make sense because you need to see the story as a whole to understand everything. Like the importance/significance of Fiyero and Boq, or the progression of Nessarose. I understand the choice to split it into two films, I just don’t agree with it. 

Personally, I left the movie theater feeling a little unfulfilled; I feel that in most cases for movies that are a series, even if they end on a cliffhanger for the next film, the film still stands on its own while keeping you excited for the next film. For me, I left feeling a bit like I’d only gotten half of the story. Yes, I know that’s the point because it’s the first half, but I don’t think that works the same in film as it does in the stage show when you only have to wait 20 minutes to see the rest of the show. I also think I’d be less frustrated with this two different films thing if the wait between the two was only a few months as opposed to an entire year. Also, am I the only one worried that we’re basically going to get a “And that’s what you missed on Glee!” moment at the start of the second film?

While Ariana Grande was much better as Glinda than I had expected, my initial thoughts about her casting still stand. Personally, I still don’t think that she was the right choice. Did she sound good? Yes — though I think some of the stuff that was in her mix, particularly during No One Mourns the Wicked, was a little weak. Did she give an overall good performance? Yes. But I wanted so much more from Glinda. I think the biggest problem was that I still felt like I was watching Ariana Grande as Glinda instead of watching Glinda, if that makes sense. There were some moments that I thought were particularly lovely — I think her strongest acting came in the part of Dancing Through Life where she joins Elphaba in the middle of the dance floor at the Ozdust Ballroom; that moment was very beautiful and such a lovely moment of connection between Cynthia’s Elphaba and Ariana’s Glinda. 

Ariana had a nice subtle humor that in general I would enjoy, but I think for Glinda you can go bigger. She could’ve pushed it even more; I wanted her to be more over the top in that humor so that there’s an even bigger contrast to her serious moments. To me it felt like there was a barrier between where Grande’s performance was and where it could be that she didn’t want to cross. I felt like she was holding back from getting fully emotionally connected, and because of that I think that if you didn’t know the full stage show, her character motivation and emotional journey was a bit muddled. I think that she was good, but I know there are a number of women (particularly those that have played Glinda on Broadway/Tour) who would have given stronger performances. 

Cynthia Erivo was a solid Elphaba. I thought she looked great, sounded great and delivered a lovely performance, especially in the more emotional scenes. I really enjoyed her performance of The Wizard and I; I thought there was a beautiful sense of hope and possibility in her delivery that was so joyous to watch. I won’t lie, based on the trailer I was worried about the iconic note at the end of Defying Gravity (that trailer gave me a lot of worries, actually) and while it isn’t my favorite version of that riff, I thought it sounded better in the movie than the trailer. Between Erivo and Grande I definitely believe that Erivo is giving the stronger performance (which is why it kind of bothers me that so much buzz I was hearing before I saw the movie was more so about Grande than Erivo) and that she did a very nice job of making Elphaba her own. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what she does with the second act, especially No Good Deed.

I don’t think anyone is shocked to hear that my favorite part of the film was Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero. The way that man has chemistry with anything that breathes should honestly be studied. He worked so well with Cynthia and Ariana; the tension during the train scene was especially great. He is endlessly charming and extremely likable, and has that natural swagger that is necessary for Fiyero. I’m not even lying when I say I had to stop myself from squealing when he came on screen for the first time (I basically reacted to his first entrance the way I do to Aaron Tveit’s first appearance in the Les Mis film, so if you know me that tells you everything you need to know). He’s such a skilled performer, and I really hope that he gets more opportunities to do musical theatre especially because I thought his Dancing Through Life was absolutely fantastic. I loved everything about the number — well, okay, I had some issues with all the backlighting and that they cut my favorite line in the song “So, what’s the most swankified place in town?”, but it was still my favorite. I’m so excited to see Jonathan Bailey in the second film and see how he plays out Fiyero’s arc. I have a feeling his As Long As You’re Mine is going to give me many heart palpitations. 

Another standout for me was Michelle Yeoh. While the vocals left some things to be desired, I thought her characterization was brilliant. If you didn’t know the show/character, I think that the reveal of Morrible being a villain would come as a real shock because she did such a great job of playing like she was on Elphaba’s side. The change in tone once she and the Wizard have manipulated Elphaba into turning the monkeys into flying monkeys and her turning on Elphaba was so well done — she was so scary when speaking to the flying monkeys. 

The real stars of the show though were Bowen Yang and Brownyn James as Pfannee and Shenshen. I want an entire movie about them. I was OBSESSED. When they suggest Glinda give Elphaba the hat (also justice for Granny Upland) and then Elphaba comes in and Pfannee is like “we have to go rouge our knees!” I died. They were EVERYTHING and I was obsessed with everything they did. They were the best addition to the film.

The choreography was so much fun. It was high energy and a little weird, which I do like — though let’s be real, Jonathan Bailey is the only person who can make some of that Dancing Through Life choreo look good. I think the choreography for Wicked should be a little funky and weird, so I thought Christopher Scott did a great job. I loved the staging of No One Mourns the Wicked, Dancing Through Life and One Short Day, those numbers all really stand out to me. And as I briefly mentioned before, I did really love the inclusion of Idina, Kristin, and Stephen throughout the One Short Day sequence. That felt very special and I loved the little moments that Idina and Kristin had with Cynthia and Ariana (the screenshot of Kristin putting her hand over Ariana’s mouth will be my new reaction meme for the foreseeable future 🤣).

I had some mixed feelings on the overall look of the film. The trailer left a lot to be desired for me; I felt that it was lacking in depth and vibrancy, but felt that depth and vibrancy in the film as a whole (truthfully, I just think they delivered a very poor trailer). I saw some people had issues with the cinematography, but personally I had no issues with it, I thought it was great. I loved the look of Shiz and all the details in the school; like the carvings of Oz in the buildings and then how when Elphaba has her “tantrum” the carving of Oz falls to reveal the animals in the back (great foreshadowing). The forests were beautiful and the train to Oz was really cool. During The Wizard and I some of the areas that Elphaba was in were giving major Mamma Mia! vibes, which I’m not upset about, but I did have a moment where I thought “Did they add Honey Honey to Wicked without telling me?”. The Shiz library? Give it to me IMMEDIATELY — unsurprisingly, that was one of my favorite sets and I would like to live there.

Overall the costumes were great; I loved a lot of the little details, like the straw/wheat stalks on the sleeves of the first costume we see Fiyero in, and the Ozian costumes in One Short Day were so fantastical and imaginative. I loved the variety in the Shiz uniforms, and the Munchkins looked great, but I won’t lie, I thought it was kind of boring that Glinda was only in pink. Yes, I know “pink goes good with green” and all that, but that’s a line from the stage show (maybe the book? idk I tried to read it twice and DNF’d it both times) and she still had color variety in the costumes on stage (blue bubble dress you will ALWAYS be famous). I did love her dress for the Ozdust Ballroom, the pink and orange looked gorgeous together and there was beautiful movement to that dress. In fact, that was her best look in the entire film. I think hair and makeup did such a disservice to Grande by making her makeup so light and her hair so lifeless; she’s a beautiful woman and there was no dimension to her face and nothing to highlight her features, which for me did have an impact on her performance (her face and hair tended to blend together and muddled a lot of her reactions). On the other hand, I think that Erivo’s hair and makeup were fantastic and so dynamic and really highlighted her features. However, I hated the long nails on Elphaba and Morrible, especially. It worked for Glinda, but why on earth would Elphaba have nails that long?

Generally, my initial concerns still stand after seeing the film and there are some small things that I have a bit of an issue with, but I do think it’s a really solid musical film — not my favorite, but still a good one that I’m sure I’ll watch many times again. I’m definitely looking forward to part two and seeing what they keep/change/update, I’m just bummed that I have to wait until November of 2025 to see it 😉

Have you seen Wicked? The stage show or the film? Have you read the book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Until next time 💜