Wicked: Part One Review

 After 21 years of anticipation, the first installment of the film adaptation of Wicked has arrived. In order to flesh out the story, give it cinematic pacing and not have to cruelly cut songs (and hopefully double dips in the box office and home media sales), the two acts of the musical are being released as their own films. And the first one is 2 hours and 40 minutes long.

When Oz comes to screen, we have so many ideas how it should be done that a number of us can forget to embrace each version for what it is. To make matters more complicated, this is Wicked, a musical that's been on Broadway since it opened, and has had productions and tours all around the world. People have a lot of preconceived ideas about what Wicked should be rather than what it can be.

Wicked on film is clearly adapted from the musical, but it is not a slavish recreation of the Broadway show now with the added bonus of immersive scenery, CG effects and animal characters. Likewise the show wasn't trying to stick closely to Gregory Maguire's novel, taking concepts and ideas to create their own take on the question "What is evil?" Reading the book, seeing the stage show and now seeing the film adaptation will all present their own experience.

Wicked: Part One (marketed as simply Wicked) opens in the aftermath of the death of the Wicked Witch of the West as depicted in the story of The Wizard of Oz, taking us to a celebration in Munchkinland where Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) arrives in her bubble to confirm the news of the Witch's death. As the Munchkins praise the news and condemn wickedness, Glinda is asked why wickedness happens. Glinda reveals details of the Wicked Witch's birth, suggesting she knows far much more than she lets on. However, when asked if it's true that she was friends with the Witch, we begin the main part of the narrative.

Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) was born with green skin and a weird quirk of making things fly into the air. Seen as the black sheep of the family, she spent more time with the Animal (talking animals in Wicked lore are referred to with a capital A) servants. But as we begin, she's accompanying her wheelchair-bound sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) to Shiz University in Gillikin Country. Young Galinda Upland is also arriving this semester, hoping to get into the sorcerey seminar of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). However, when Elphaba accidentally lets her quirk display itself, Morrible recognizes it as a talent for magic and enlists Elphaba in her seminar, getting her a scholarship to Shiz, scorning Galinda, who also accidentally volunteers her private suite when trying to find Elphaba lodgings, landing the two students at odds with each other.

Often scorned by the other students, who wind up supporting Galinda in the two students' rivalry, Elphaba finds herself drawn to the dwindling number of Animal teachers at Shiz, especially the kindly Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage), who teaches history, trying to warn the students of how Animals are being removed from the public eye. Being told that her magical abilities could land her a position in assisting the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), Elphaba determines she'll try to help the Animals.

Things at Shiz begin taking at turn with the arrival of Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey), a prince from Winkie Country, known for his relaxed and fun-loving attitude. Can the relationship between Galinda and Elphaba improve? And what will happen when Elphaba finally meets the Wizard? And how does she become the iconic Wicked Witch of the West?

Wicked doesn't fit neatly into the MGM film's world and timeline and it doesn't match up with L. Frank Baum's world at all. It's best to see it as its own take on the ideas of Oz with its indelible themes of friendship and learning to accept the unusual people in society.

This might be the most diverse Oz we've seen onscreen as not only is Oz not limited to just white people, but we also get clearly gay characters as some men swoon over Fiyero as well, including Galinda's genderbent friend Pfannee (Bowen Yang). Some are claiming Fiyero is pansexual in the film as he clearly knows he's good looking and uses his charisma to get others to go along with what he's doing, regardless of their gender. (Both Bowen Yang and Jonathan Bailey are openly gay.)

This is a visually lush film, and a lot of the sets were actually built to make the cast react well the scene. The set design really makes Oz look like a lived in world. And no notes on VFX when CG comes in to depict Animal characters or to marry different landscapes or depict them when they couldn't be filmed. Even when you know the character or landscape is created in a computer, it looks great.

The cast is top-notch and there's no slouches. Cynthia Erivo is a capable lead and deserves recognition for offering a nuanced, emotionally complex version of Elphaba. When I saw the show live, the actress playing Elphaba seemed just angry more often. To be fair, she was likely doing theatrical acting while film allows for quieter, more grounded performances because the camera and audio can focus on one point while the back row needs to see and hear what's onstage. Cynthia, however, manages to be vulnerable, endearing, but also strong-willed and determined, all the while acting under green makeup and a wig. Her Elphaba will likely be the Elphaba for families who watched the movie somehow and didn't get to see the show live. And I'm absolutely okay with that.

Ariana Grande might have had a different hurdle to clear as she's known for her pop star career, which has different standards than musical theater or film. But she has a theatrical background and clearly understood the assignment paying homage to the many actresses who've left their mark on the character while also bringing her own twist.

The singing and music is also excellent, with the melodies of the songs (and a few MGM Wizard of Oz Easter Eggs) worked into the score.

The timing of the story of Elphaba being an ally to the Animals comes at a very politically charged time as during one of the campaigns in the latest election in the United States, a number of groups were targeted as being problems for American people. But the politics of Wicked have felt evergreen over its run on Broadway as sometimes, when you're telling a story inspired by things that keep happening, we keep finding the fantasy of Oz a mirror to our own times.

So, I was absolutely delighted by Wicked: Part One and look forward to my second screening tomorrow, and of course seeing Wicked: Part Two next year.