Defying my Expectations – Wicked (Movie Review)

“Everyone deserves the chance to fly.

When ostracized and misunderstood green-skinned Elphaba is forced to share a room with the popular aristocrat Glinda, the two’s unlikely friendship is tested as they begin to fulfill their respective destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.” – Letterboxd Synopsis

Wicked is not only my favorite movie of the year, but it is easily one of my favorite movies of all time. The history surrounding everything around this IP is rich and tumultuous, but the land of Oz will live on and have stories told about it for the rest of time. As it has become so ingrained into just culture in general since the first book was released over a century ago. So many great stories and various forms of media have been told about this land and Wicked is one of those great ones, just as the play it was based on is as well. This movie isn’t perfect, it isn’t without fault, but when the credits rolled and my theatre was giving Cynthia an ovation, it was impossible to deny how powerful this movie is.

Wicked gives such life to this wonderful world of strangeness and magic that is also not too dissimilar from ours at the root of it. It’s just more mystical and I love that it never strays away from showing that. Talking animals, magic and all the works. This is the world of Oz at its most magical. On the surface it’s a lovely world but we get to see some of the faults of this world too that progressively bubble up to the surface as the movie goes on. It spends most of its runtime at Shiz dealing with Elphaba and Galinda’s conflict and the inciting school drama that comes with that. The school setting is a great way to bring these characters together and start the conflict. It’s a solid backdrop to set a foundation for everything and experience the world. It hammers home the social dynamics and the dynamics of the world on an initial small scale that is digestible. We see the prejudice, the classism, and the manipulation hidden behind the prestige. All of that just gets more exemplified as the story moves to the gorgeous Emerald City during its last act.

Elphaba is an amazing character. An outcast because of her skin along with her uncontrollable power. Someone who has been and is constantly blamed for the misfortune of the people around her and treated unfairly because of those things. I loved how she is portrayed as someone who is strong and doesn’t care what people think about her, but deep down, it’s always clear that she does care. Some of that duality is portrayed through some of her songs, but most of it is visually seen by how expertly Cynthia Erivo played Elphaba. The facial expressions, how she speaks to certain people and reacts to what they say. It can be so subtle, but it’s so amazing. And when those cracks starts to show in her tough exterior, for the better it explodes into a really wonderful feeling of seeing someone actually be happy and let their guard down, and for worse you see all the negativity get to her. There is a scene in this movie, where the music almost completely cuts and all eyes are on her and it is one of the most emotionally powerful scenes I’ve seen this year. Only topped by her song, the song that has been played in Targets across the nation. Defying Gravity is so triumphant in a self powerful way. This story is about Elphaba understanding herself, accepting herself and the power she has while living in a pretentious prejudice world and being manipulated under the guise that she’s being helped and can do some good. So that song is her triumphing over those feelings. Coming to accept herself and her powers and I know the entire theatre felt it in their souls because she got a loud ovation. Elphaba is an amazing character. Cynthia Erivo is a phenomenal singer and actress. I can’t wait for part two.

Ariana Grande was also amazing as Galinda. She plays the rich princess so well, really striking a thin line. Because Galinda isn’t a bad person. Yeah, she does some bad things to Elphaba in this movie that she winds of regretting, but she isn’t a bad person. She’s spoiled, bratty, pretentious, vain, and used to getting everything she wants, so when she doesn’t, it’s like a shell shock to her whole existence, and Ariana played those parts of her character up very well. Galinda is also a caring person. Those other flaws can just kind of sour that very real side of her. So it was nice to see her get knocked down a few pegs throughout the story. I really loved when she and Elphaba finally become friends. The bubbly eccentric rich character and the reserved sort of mysterious character friendship trope is always gonna work for me. Ariana is still an amazing actress. She is one of the best, most versatile singers I’ve ever heard. I know this was a lifelong dream of hers to not only be in Wicked but play Galinda and its honestly very sweet and heart warming that she got to do so on the big screen and was amazing in her role. Popular is one of my favorite songs of the year. One of the many from this soundtrack.

The rest of the cast is amazing too. Stephanie Sue is great in whatever she’s in. I loved Peter Dinklage as the Dr. Dillamond. Jonathan Bailey was a scene stealer and had one of the best numbers in the whole movie. And of Course Jeff Goldblume as the Wizard was awesome. He embodied a version of the wizard that I’ve always envisioned. The “fake” magician in a world full of magic. His dialogue almost seems ad-libbed, but that delivery fits so well for a con man constantly spinning lies to keep his power.

I have loved musicals and stage productions since I was a kid. One of my favorite movies ever is Happy Feet. When it comes to musicals, the music can just carry on its own, but when you have the music and the choreography to go with it? I was jaw dropped with some of the numbers in this movie. Whether it was Ariana’s or Cynthia’s vocals (Jonathan Bailey too) or the way the sets were incorporated into the dancing. Dancing Through Life, Popular, and Sentimental Man have absolutely amazing cinematography and dancing numbers. It genuinely amazes me. The way the library books and shelves are used in Dancing Through Life. The way Ariana dances around the room in Popular. The way Jeff walks around the miniature of Oz and creates sort of a play while singing Sentimental Man. It’s nothing short of beautiful. And there wasn’t a lot of dancing in Defying Gravity, but when she starts flying in the sky with her cape soaring behind her and one of the last shots of her as she hits that final note? Absolute cinema, chef’s kiss. One of my favorite scenes ever.

So yeah, Wicked was well worth the wait (about a decade, which is wild) and hype. I honestly love this movie so much. We might just go see it again. The performances in this movie were awe-inspiring. The message is something we’ve all heard before, but bundled into this package just makes it so sentimental. All of the cast deserves their flowers, no one more than Cynthia. Her portrayal of Elphaba will make you laugh, cry, and is nothing shy of powerful. The only gripe I really have with the movie personally is that I wish it was longer, that we could’ve seen Galinda and Elphaba as friends for a bit longer, that the Emerald city stuff was a bit longer. At about the halfway point, the pacing does pick up, but honestly, that’s a nitpick for me. I just want more. I need more. I need more songs, more beautiful cinematography, more of these amazing dance numbers, more of the costumes. Just more, more, more. I haven’t been so amazed walking out of a movie theatre in years now. I was a bit worried going into this just due to the fact that it took over a decade to finally release, but this movie defied my expectations. It is phenomenal and deserves all its praises. I can’t wait for part two next year.

Wicked: Part 1 – 10/10

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Notes – This was a hard one to write because I just have so many thoughts and so much praise for this movie. I really did love it. I didn’t really even touch on like all of the nods to the Dorothy and her adventure to come or all of the foreshadowing and subtle moments. Just know I caught it all (or a lot of it lol). The soundtrack has been in constant rotation and will definitely be high on my albums of the year.