Review 735: Wicked

 

Wicked is a hot blooded musical  

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 that astonished, delighted and terrified me at the same time and seeing it brought to life on the big screen gave me a newfound admiration for the world of Oz as 

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, it feels like a complete story. The 160 minute runtime takes briskly and effectively takes us up to the interval

The friendship that develops between Elphaba and Glinda 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. They're chalk and cheese; starting off as rivals but eventually they become friends.  is what make them such a great double act.

But when you actually pull away the bodywork and look beneath the surface, Wicked actually has a lot to say thematically. There's stuff about people being rejected because they're different, as we see Elphaba who is discriminated because of her green skin. There's a lot of subtext about the mistreatment of animals as we clearly see with 

From a production standpoint, Oz has never looked better. Whether it be Munchkind, the Emerald City itself or the shining campus of Shiz University are brought to life with  and an eye for detail. a dazzling array of colours from bright greens to rich pinks. Shiz Uni is a kind of Hogwarts for the Oz set.    the score by John Powell 

Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande are fabulous playing Elphaba & Glinda respectively. Grande in particular has expressed a lot of reverence for the original play Glinda is this 

Jonathan Bailey from Netflix's Bridgeton is fantastic playing Fiyero Tgelaar who looks like a dashing Disney prince brought to life 

Michelle Yoah as Madame Morrible,  she sees potential in Elphaba 

Even Jeff Goldblum gets 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.

The film features a Peter "Tyrion Lannister" Dinklage 

All the  and the effect of the closing sequence is exhilarating. 4.5/5.