Review 735: Wicked

  

Based on the musical Wicked by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman and the novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire; In the land of Oz, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is a young, misunderstood woman because of her unusual green skin who has yet to discover her true power, forges an unlikely friendship with Glinda (Ariana Grande) who has yet to discover her true heart when they meet as students at Shiz University. Following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take different paths.

To the vague extent that I can recall seeing the original stage production when I was younger, it was certainly a marvellous, ambitious production 

Much like Denis Villeneuve's recent adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune, Jon Chu's Wicked is very a two-part adaptation covering the musical's first act and thankfully it doesn't just feel like a first part,

The friendship that develops between Elphaba and Glenda is the emotional core of the film: We know as an audience that Elphaba and Glinda's adventures in Oz will ultimately see them become Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. 

From a production standpoint, Oz has never looked better 

Jonathan Bailey from Netflix's Bridgeton is  playing Fiyero Tgelaar

Michelle Yoah as Madame Morrible 

even Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard of Oz. He's curiously kept offscreen up until the last half of the film when Elphaba and Glinda finally get to Oz which reminded me a lot of how Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka was kept offscreen until we to the Chocolate Factory in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But when he does appear, Goldblum essentially plays himself but it worked perfectly for this. Bringing his classic, eccentric, rakish charm to the famous role.