An Uncharacteristically Early Wicked [Part I] Review

The second Broadway musical adapted to cinema by Chinese-American director Jon M. Chu, Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Wicked loosely retells novelist Gregory Maguire’s dystopian reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz, fleshing out the backstory and motivations of the so-called Wicked Witch of the West. When Chu and the writers couldn’t figure out how to streamline this long-running musical into one movie, they ended up expanding the adaptation into a two-parter. Although live-action musicals and stories about Oz often prove a tough sell to moviegoers, Wicked Part I – which Universal advertises as standalone – has become Chu’s first movie to gross over $400 million worldwide, and – after Crazy Rich Asians – only his second non-sequel blockbuster. Perhaps more importantly, the craft, compelling characters, and social commentary of Wicked Part I help it seem destined for a long shelf life.

Wicked [Part I]

Wide release date: November 22, 2024
Director: Jon M. Chu
Writers: Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox (script); Stephen Schwartz (songs)

Something has changed within mе. Something is not the same.
I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game.

-Elphaba Thropp

Naturally covering only Act I of the Wicked musical, Wicked Part I shares events preceding those recorded in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its embellished 1939 movie adaptation, focusing on ostracized sorceress Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo)’s term as a student of Shiz University. The lifelong outcast seems to acquire newfound acceptance as she impresses her teachers with her wisdom and powers of levitation, and develops an unlikely friendship with privileged roommate Galinda (Ariana Grande). After the forced literal silencing of Oz’s talking Animals results in the firing of Shiz’s non-human faculty members, a disturbingly enlightening visit to the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) will require Elphaba and the self-rechristened Glinda to choose whether to pursue the approval of Oz’s elite, or the need to help those the elite treats unfairly.

Prior to the release of Part I, Wicked became one of the few musicals that I saw professionally staged twice. (However, I missed the beginning of the former performance, and also have only read extracts of the novel.) I ended up preferring Act I to Act II, for such reasons as the former delivering a larger number of my favorite songs, and the show’s flow gradually worsening as it approached Elphaba’s defeat. Part I reached cinemas near the end of a year that distressed me for reasons both societal and personal, but provides an appropriate diversion from my worries that next year will suck even harder. By expanding Act I into a movie that runs even longer than the play, Part I seamlessly reinforces Wicked‘s often-jovial and surprisingly intellectual strengths.

Wicked takes impressive advantage of its second change in medium. The prolonged runtime and protracted production time allowed the writers to flesh out and update the characterization and worldbuilding, including additional looks at the discrimination against green-skinned Elphaba and the Animals. Intimate photography and emotionally-driven editing allow a palpable pace for the story. One of the most solid casts I’ve seen for a contemporary movie musical unleashes nuanced physical performances and believable chemistry, both in between and during stellar new renditions of iconic showtunes. Padding rarely feels obvious, and never distracts the audience from remaining invested in Elphaba’s and Glinda’s arcs. Sequences in which all of the aforementioned non-specist elements enhance the evolution of the witches’ relationship beyond stage-bound limitations include “What is this Feeling?”, now an energetic montage tracing several days of playful “loathing” all over campus, and the Ozdust Ballroom dance, a pathos-injected look at a disgraced “Elphie” and a remorseful Glinda sharing a cathartic evening.

Like The Wonderful Wizard… and its most-beloved adaptations, Wicked has persisted for decades by supplementing the fantasy with fascinating characters, and timeless and relatable themes. In addition to promoting the importance of companionship and self-confidence, depictions of Oz often establish it as a place where one can’t always trust their first impressions. The seemingly-unfeeling could possess a human level of sentience, and a supposed wizard actually can’t produce any magic more powerful than inner strength. Perhaps it seemed inevitable that even if pre-Wicked portrayals of the Wicked Witch of the West left no room for sympathy, such Oz fans as Maguire, Holzman, and Wicked‘s own admirers would want to redefine her title. Erivo and Chu help Elphaba endear through her typically self-assured and confident attitude, but also showcase her humanity whenever she needs to overcome heartbreak or disillusionment.

While Elphaba’s universally-comprehendible searches for acceptance and her calling remain the main focus, this movie notably makes an even greater effort than the play did to engage viewers in the Animals’ endeavors as well. The addition of more Animals and a shadow puppet show to “Something Bad” chillingly elaborate on the oppression occurring outside of Shiz, while other scenes prove that Elphaba and campus heartthrob Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) sympathized with Animals even before their ban from the faculty. In the nearly-three decades since Maguire launched the Wicked book series, its notion of tyrants vilifying marginalized groups and their sympathizers has unfortunately proven realistic more than once. Just as people of Oz persecute Animals and Elphaba for crises either exacerbated or created by the Wizard’s lack of genuine magic, Chu has recalled that while he filmed In the Heights, media blaming Chinese-Americans for the COVID-19 pandemic provoked the harassment of his friends, and instilled in him a fear of venturing outside his residence.

In an interview released four days after Wicked Part I entered wide release, Chu confessed that when Universal offered the musical to him during lockdown, he realized that the empowering lyrics of the Act I finale, “Defying Gravity,” paralleled his newfound determination to speak out against the obstacles society places against immigrants. The separation of Wicked‘s acts repurposes the deservedly esteemed song, now the number that ends the musical for viewers either unable or unwilling to watch Part II. It works surprisingly well in either context, as the final justification for Elphaba to disconnect from both self-preserving Glinda and the deceptive Wizard; apparently kicking off the lonely future the opening confirms for the witches. Her introspection and strengthening mastery of the Grimmerie’s spells evoke Baum’s original Oz books, in which major characters discover the solutions to their problems inside their humble selves.

The film breaks up “Defying Gravity” with some illustrations of Elphaba’s improving sense of self-worth. In a moment of silent tension before the final verse, she must ascend from a free fall by summoning her broomstick, and envisions her younger self (Karis Musongole) plummeting beside her. The broom returns to her grasp after she and her younger self reach out towards each other, as a triumphant reflection of Elphaba proving to herself the importance of resilience and seeking new means to achieve justice. Visually, the number’s other most notable embellishment occurs when Elphaba shuts down the Emerald City’s lights before soaring into “the Western sky.” As another of several obviously-symbolic lighting choices, it separates a population submissive to the Wizard, including people “in the dark” about the true extent of his supposed powers and generosity, from the enlightened “Wicked Witch.” Back on the ground, Madame Morrible (Chinese-Malaysian Michelle Yeoh, whom I hope to have more to say about after Wicked Part II) pulling Glinda into the darkness places the women who once showed strong support for “Elphie” in between the extremes; knowing the truth about Elphaba and the Wizard, but actively refusing to take a genuine stand against his atrocities. I’ve had less trouble than other fans in adjusting to the changes in “Defying Gravity”‘s momentum, particularly because the Original Broadway Cast Recording’s edits to the dialogue resulted in a similar experience when I first attended the play.

Whether or not a viewer has already seen Act II, they presumably know from at least one version of The Wonderful Wizard… that eventually the Wizard’s eagerness to please and incapability for enchantments will prompt him to surrender Oz’s throne. However, the beginning of Part I confirms that despite this duology’s myriad of differences from other versions of Oz, the liquidation of Elphaba will prohibit her from supporting any chance of improvement in the next regime. Fortunately, the framing device of Glinda wistfully remembering the truth behind her “wickedness” suggests a devotion to continue Elphaba’s cause. At least for an optimistic viewer, this demonstrates that even when a movement for justice seems hopeless, it could still yield a beneficial effect; in this case inspiration for other people to disagree with tyranny. Thanks to such passionate talents as Jon M. Chu, the first half of Wicked‘s conscious and charming fable is now skillfully preserved in a form suitable for empowering generations of fantasy lovers.

Plug

Violence towards Asian-Americans persists at alarming levels. I would like my readers to donate to The AAPI Community Fund, even if I personally take no share of the funds.

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