Directed by Jon M. Chu, Wicked is the 2024 adaptation of the massively successful and much-awarded Broadway musical of the same name that originated in 2003, which was based on the 1995 book of the same name. The film depicts the origin story of both the Wicked Witch of the West (who is named Elphaba) and Glinda, the Good Witch, from The Wizard of Oz, and their time enrolling at Shiz University.

I was excited to see this film as I love 1939’s The Wizard of Oz and I also enjoy a good musical from time to time. I knew very little of the Broadway musical it was based on. I had never heard a single song from it, but I was intrigued to finally experience the iconic story of Wicked. I would like you to keep the fact that I know very little of the original musical in mind as you read the rest of the review, as there are definitely going to be things I  criticize and things that I praise that are just a part of the original musical, and not original to this film. It seems like fans of the original musical and fans of musical theatre in general are really enjoying this movie, and I’m happy for them.

I had a little ill will towards the movie going into it because of the marketing being so deceiving. For those who don’t know, this film was just Part 1 of the story, but you would never know that from the marketing. The way this movie was promoted feels like it was purposefully trying to deceive consumers into thinking it was going to adapt the full musical, not half of it. It really should have been called Wicked Part One. It’s just that simple. I was also weary of the fact that the film was only half the story yet almost as long as the original full Broadway production. The trailers also left me skeptical of its quality, but the fantastic acclaim it had received raised my expectations. Unfortunately, this film did not meet those expectations for me personally.

There has been a lot of conversation over the visuals of this movie. Some think it looks really ugly and some think it looks magnificent. I’m leaning more towards the former. The color grading was purposefully used to mute the colors and make everything less bright, which the director Jon M. Chu said was done to make the movie feel more realistic, which is pretty stupid in my opinion, as the screenplay of the movie very intentionally tries to make the land of Oz feel quirky and bombastic (For example, all the silly words that are used throughout, such as confusifying). I definitely noticed the ugly greyness of it all in the beginning more than any other part of the movie, but there were still moments where the color grading reared its ugly head throughout. For a lot of the movie, I wasn’t able to fully appreciate the set design that I normally would be dazzled by, because the color grading made the sets look kinda drab and unattractive. The movie looks its worst when the characters are outside and when certain buildings or vehicles are showcased, such as the train to Oz. The visual effects, costumes, and production design all are pretty fantastic in this movie, but sometimes it’s hard to notice because they are so muddled by the color grading. A lot of the casting was very distracting as well, as it was hard to believe all these characters played by actors that looked to be thirty years old were freshmen in college, with Jonathan Bailey being the most egregious example of that.

I think easily the best thing about Wicked is Ariana Grande’s spectacular performance as Glinda. Grande is so charismatic and funny in this movie, and is also able to be really moving and genuine in more serious, emotional moments. I completely understand the acclaim Grande has received, and I would be pretty happy with her winning the best supporting actress Oscar, like many are predicting she will. Cynthia Erivo has also accumulated a lot of praise for her performance as Elphaba. I felt that Erivo gave a pretty incredible physical performance, as many of her facial expressions in her more emotional scenes really impacted me. She also was fantastic in the musical scenes, as she was able to inject so much emotion into her singing. However, I found the majority of Erivo’s line deliveries to come off as incredibly unnatural and awkward. It made for a very strange viewing experience at times, because I would genuinely be moved close to tears by Erivo’s physical acting and then she would open her mouth and she would just sound so stilted and fake. I can tell that Erivo is very talented in many ways, but I find it really hard to praise her performance as a whole because of the weaker aspects of it. I really enjoyed Jonathan Bailey’s performance as Fiyero, a cocky young prince who Glinda pursues romantically. I found Bailey to be very charismatic, especially in his big musical number, Dancing Through Life, and very authentic in the quieter, more emotional scene he shares with Elphaba in the woods. I found Jeff Goldblum’s performance as the Wizard of Oz pretty charming, and I thought Michelle Yeoh was so-so as Madame Morrible, the Dean of Sorcery at Shiz University.

The writing of this film was overall just okay in my opinion. There was nothing too compelling about the story, and I thought the overarching themes of prejudice were really underbaked and not any more developed and deep than anything else I have seen before that tackles the concept of prejudice. I think the movie’s comedic writing was mildly funny at times, but overall most of the jokes really didn’t hit for me. I do, however, think the central relationship between Elphaba and Glinda was well done. Their dialogue as the relationship develops is pretty heartfelt. I didn’t really realize how emotionally invested I actually was in their relationship during the film’s runtime,  until I became really emotional during their scenes together near the end of the movie. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but their relationship is quite touching and definitely a highlight of the film. There were several moments that were meant to be serious, but just come off as really comical because of how absurd they were (specifically the scene where Elphaba tells Glinda her secret). This movie also includes many nods and references to The Wizard of Oz that just felt very forced and silly to me. I didn’t love the pacing of this film. This movie’s intro really dragged for me, and for the majority of its runtime, it felt like Chu’s specific intention was to drag the film out as long as possible as almost every scene lasted way longer than it needed to, but then at the end, it felt like everything started progressing so quickly that it felt rushed. The way this film ends as a part one actually didn’t bother me too much, as both characters had satisfying narrative arcs. I was pretty satisfied in that respect.

Overall, I don’t feel strongly about the soundtrack of this film. There were a few songs I really enjoyed, such as Popular and What Is This Feeling? but I found the majority of them to be very underwhelming and forgettable. I thought Jon M. Chu did a good job directing the film overall, but his direction was never anything special, besides the Dancing Through Life sequence. All of this is to say, going into the finale of this film, the iconic and beloved musical showstopper Defying Gravity, I felt very meh on the film as a whole. And then Defying Gravity hit.

I had never heard Defying Gravity before. I knew none of the lyrics. I just knew it was beloved and many greatly connected with it’s lyrics. I can’t say how this film’s rendition compares to it being performed on the stage, but I can say that in this movie, it took my breath away. Defying Gravity’s lyrics are very powerful and emotionally impactful, and do a fantastic job of culminating both Elphaba and Glinda’s arcs from throughout the movie. The lyrics show Elphaba’s yearning to be herself and overcome adversity really effectively, and they also show Glinda’s feelings towards Elphaba and the world around them in a really interesting and compelling way. The Defying Gravity scene is astonishingly directed. It is visually stunning and complements the emotional lyrics perfectly. The song practically demands jaw dropping visuals to go along with it, and Jon M. Chu delivered. Defying Gravity is easily Cynthia Erivo’s best acted scene of the film. The amount of emotion she conveys to her audience through her singing is astounding, especially in her battle cry. She is so moving in this wonderful finale. Honestly, Defying Gravity is one of my favorite movie scenes of the year, so this film left me with a good taste in my mouth when it concluded.

So yeah, I unfortunately did not love Wicked like so many other people do. I loved elements of it. I loved Ariana Grande’s performance and aspects of Cynthia Erivo’s. I loved Defying Gravity. I loved the relationship between Elphaba and Glinda. Overall though, I found this film underwhelming and kinda forgettable, so I’m giving Wicked 3 out of 5 Knight Heads. I’m hoping (but skeptical) that Wicked Part Two will be an improvement!