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Review: ‘Wicked’ Strives to be a New Classic for Future Generations but is More Style than Substance
November 19, 2024Ben MK
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One of the most iconic and celebrated films of all time, The Wizard of Oz is a movie that needs no introduction. Based on L. Frank Baum's beloved turn-of-the-century classic, director Victor Fleming's Technicolor tale of one teenage girl's journey from the plains of Kansas to the magical land of Oz has left its mark on generations of audiences, inspiring several cinematic revisitations and even a Broadway musical based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 spin-off novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Now, 85 years after moviegoers were first introduced to Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, director Jon M. Chu is bringing Wicked to the big screen. But is this adaptation of the Tony award-winning stage production a wish come true for fans? A prequel to the events of The Wizard of Oz, the film follows Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande), two first-year students at Oz's premiere academy of witchcraft and wizardry, Shiz University, who couldn't be more different from one another. The green-skinned daughter of a minister from one of the most prominent families in Munchkinland, Elphaba has spent her entire life feeling alienated and ostracized, while Glinda has never known what it's like to be an outcast, thanks to her radiant beauty and innate talent for being a social butterfly. However, when Shiz's reigning headmistress, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), throws the two together by assigning them to be roommates, it forces the pair to find a way to get along — or at least tolerate each other long enough to get through the school year. At first, this proves to be an unbearable chore, as Elphaba and Glinda bicker and butt heads with each other seemingly at every opportunity. It's only after Glinda comes to realize the horribleness of her own behavior, though, that the two aspiring witches start to see their friendship blossoming, a turn of events that winds up being as shocking to them as it does to the other students at Shiz. Enter Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), one of Oz's most eligible bachelors and a newcomer to Shiz who has virtually its entire student body swooning. Attracted to Glinda almost immediately, Fiyero soon becomes her boyfriend, making her the envy of the rest of the school. Little does Glinda realize, however, that Fiyero and Elphaba share more in common than at first glance. And when the Ozian government puts into place a strict new law that bans all animal culture — leading to the imprisonment of Shiz's last remaining four-legged professor, Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage) — it prompts Fiyero and Elphaba to try and take action, something Elphaba finds herself in a much better position to do after she's invited by the Wizard himself (Jeff Goldblum) to travel to the Emerald City and meet him. Journeying hand in hand with Glinda, Elphaba will soon have the chance to plead their case with Oz's all-powerful ruler, a man with no shortage of secrets of his own. But will the Wizard live up to his reputation? Or will Elphaba be cruelly betrayed by the ones she thought she could trust the most? Written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the resulting music-filled odyssey will take viewers back to the land of Oz, as they've never seen it before. That said, while fans of Wicked the Musical will no doubt delight in what Chu and company have conjured up, Wicked leaves something to be desired for audiences hoping for more from this highly anticipated blockbuster, especially when it comes to the paper-thin plot that's stretched even thinner to suit the movie's nearly-three-hour running time. Whether it's the lack of genuine character development or the decision to split the source material into two parts — likely reserving the bulk of the story for the upcoming Wicked: Part Two — those expecting a film with equal parts style and substance might be sorely disappointed. Still, for viewers who have every lyric memorized, there's no topping Grande and Erivo, even with original Broadway cast members Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth showing up in cameo appearances. It all adds up to a visually enchanting tale that struggles to endure its own superficial attempts at being a new classic for future generations, eventually wearing out its welcome by the time the third act rolls around. Nonetheless, if you consider yourself an admirer of the original and its Broadway followup, there's still plenty to adore about this handsomely made and sonically bewitching epic. Suffice to say, only time will tell if the impending conclusion to this story lives up to audiences' expectations. In the meantime, Wicked will surely leave moviegoers divided, with some finding that pink and green go better together than others. Wicked releases November 22nd, 2024 from Universal Pictures. The film has an MPAA rating of PG for some scary action, thematic material and brief suggestive material. Its runtime is 2 hrs. 40 min. |
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