Don’t be offended by my frank analysis: Wicked is the best movie musical of 2024.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve lived a block away from the Gershwin Theatre. For the past 21 years, that theatre has been home to Wicked, a revisionist retelling of The Wizard of Oz featuring new, incredible music. Now, a movie adaptation is hitting the big screen from director Jon M. Chu. Starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande-Butera as Galinda, this film takes us back down the yellow brick road for a new story set mostly before Dorothy Gale ever arrived in Oz with the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow.
Wicked is a must-see cinematic event. This is the film musical theatre lovers have long pined for. Chu is a musical maestro, having already proven himself on In the Heights. He provides excellent direction for Stephen Schwartz’s music, matching it with well-choreographed dance numbers and enough camera movements and editing to take full advantage of the cinematic medium.
A standout sequence in the film is set at a party. It inspires chills as you watch the way the characters’ relationships evolve through dance. We see each of their vulnerabilities and we learn that there is more to all of them than meets the eye. Erivo and Grande’s performances also really take shape here. Erivo brings a lot of emotional gravitas to her role as the protagonist. She’s an easy character to sympathize with, always being looked at and judged for the color of her skin. The film expertly weaves in themes of racial discrimination, an idea that fits perfectly with these characters.
Grande-Butera is a stellar casting choice. With a casting choice like this, you run the risk of someone putting their star persona all over the role. But that’s not the case here. You can feel how much Grande-Butera cares about Galinda and wants to service the character, not herself. She’s magnificent in this film. Not only does she showcase her powerful vocals early on, but she plays Galinda with so much charm.
Galinda is not an easy character to like. She comes into conflict with Elphaba early on and she’s quickly shown to be shallow and self-absorbed. They have a loathing for each other at first, but they soon form a strong bond despite remaining opposites in personality. Grande-Butera’s comedic timing is on point. She’s very funny in this movie, which works as a contrast to Erivo’s likable but more multilayered, sentimental performance. Erivo and Grande-Butera both do a splendid job of bringing emotion into their fantastic vocals.
Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum are also wonderful additions. Yeoh has a natural presence that can be warm, authoritative, and frightening. Chu reunites with her after Crazy Rich Asians, and they work very well together. While their performances are excellent, their musical numbers are weak, as neither have singing voices near the level of Erivo and Grande. Jonathan Bailey has a standout musical number with “Dancing Through Life,” and he manages to have chemistry with everyone on screen as the handsome Fiyero. He’s fiercely flirtatious and fun to watch.
Unfortunately, one of the weakest elements of the film is the cinematography. Wicked has a $145 million production budget and phenomenally constructed sets, but Alice Brooks’s cinematography can be hard to look at. When you compare this to our trip to Oz in 1939, it’s like night and day. The Wizard of Oz is saturated, colorful, and vibrant. While Wicked has vibrant performances (especially with Bowen Yang), the color palette is uninteresting and desaturated. While backlighting has enhanced many images in film, it almost ruins certain shots in this film because of how blown out the backgrounds can appear.
Although Wicked has a few well-shot scenes, the lighting often makes every image look flat. Musical numbers like “The Wizard and I” have fun moments but end in an empty field with no interesting texture. But the movie’s standout musical number, which people will remember, is “Defying Gravity.” The final act of Wicked is powerful, especially with how it plays with what Elphaba wants. The stakes, action, and danger are raised significantly, and it’s thrilling. Chu and Stephen Schwartz add enough to the songs to make it feel like a proper finale while still leaving us begging for more.
Wicked is a show-stopper sure to make any musical lover happy. It adds a lot to the stage production, fleshing out characters and making you laugh and cry.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Wicked review.
