‘Wicked’: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Are Magnificent in Jon M. Chu’s Soaring Adaptation of Hit Musical

Alci Rengifo

A good villain is never born. They are made. The great appeal of “Wicked” is how it takes a classic villain from our collective memories and genuinely humanizes her. As a musical, it is also sweeping fun. Does it even need an introduction? Surely, if you are reading this you already know this film is the much-awaited adaptation of Stephen Schwartz’s record-breaking Broadway hit, which premiered in 2003 and is based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel of the same name. Cinema is a different beast and just because a stage production may be great and the songs enduring, doesn’t mean a movie will be instantly good. Yet, director Jon M. Chu has not only pulled off a very good screen version, but a grand musical in the tradition of classic, technicolor Hollywood.

For those who might somehow not know the plot, the story begins with Munchkinland rejoicing over the death of the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, reduced to a puddle by Dorothy. As the citizens of the Land of Oz, including the Munchkins, celebrate, Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) floats in her famous bubble, magic wand in hand. She begins to narrate how she and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the doomed green witch, were once friends, long ago as students at Shiz University studying sorcery. We cut to the past and meet Elphaba as the ultimate outsider because of her green shade and hurtful past. She is the daughter of the governor of Oz, and the product of an affair between her late mother and a mystery man. Though tasked with watching over her preferred, wheelchair-bound sister, Elphaba catches the attention of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), who realizes she possesses a great power. This sparks envy in Glinda, a spoiled blonde used to everyone doing as she pleases. 

“Wicked,” which is officially the first part of a two-film adaptation of the entire Schwartz production, feels like a bridge between a classic form of musical cinema and contemporary moods. While the book was published almost 30 years ago and the stage production premiered 21 years ago, Chu and writers Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox make the material feel fresh. As with his “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights,” Chu is defining himself as a filmmaker of visual exuberance, reaching a true peak with this film. “Wicked” is entertainment on an immense scale. An opening number like “No One Mourns the Wicked” already kicks things off with delirious choreography and a look reminiscent of films like “The King & I.” Undoubtedly there are many digital effects in this movie, but it also has an organic feel where sets and environments feel solid and tangible. Chu is adapting the renowned musical while nodding at the ultimate inspiration behind it all, 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz.” L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” is, of course, the other key source of Maguire’s novel, but the classic film has defined everything about this world in the public imagination. Thinking small would be an insult.

Yet, there is a deeper resonance in “Wicked” that goes beyond mere nostalgic recognition. What it does is enhance and even satirize its world, bringing out richer subtext in the symbols. There is a special poignancy to the storytelling and songs. Elphaba is an outsider finding her place in a world of cruelties. Her green skin represents how we’re all born as we are, it is society that creates mean prejudices. At first, she is reserved, her potential forced to be kept down. Ariana Grande’s Glinda is a glorious ditz, as if someone from “Mean Girls” was dropped into “Harry Potter.” Her little entourage of sycophants, Pfannee (Bowen Yang) and ShenShen (Bronwyn James), follow her around. For Erivo and Grande, this might prove to be a defining work for them. They compliment each other perfectly while never making the material ever feel hokey. The way they bring these characters to life and perform numbers like “Popular,” “Defying Gravity” (shot in a way that makes you feel like levitating) and “I’m Not That Girl” not like expected, popular songs, but as genuine evocations of two women inhabiting experiences. They make the material exhilarating and heartbreaking. 

The formation of a “villain” is the central theme of “Wicked.” Its brilliance is also found in the richness of the approach. Elphaba’s gradual transformation is more complex than someone simply going bad. Individuals are affected or traumatized by environments, events or scarring moments. A historical figure like Lenin was driven to be a revolutionary from seeing his younger brother executed by the Czar. Elphaba grapples with a world that is glad to be dishonest and unfair. A dark mood lingers over Oz regarding its animal inhabitants, who are losing the right to speak or hold jobs. Most tragic of these is Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage), a goat professor at Shiz, who connects with Elphaba and introduces her to an animal underground of worried friends feeling the authorities will soon come for them in the night. She may have powers of sorcery yet find herself feeling powerless before a merciless system. There is an unnerving undercurrent to this Oz. Matters of the heart also get complicated with the arrival of dashing Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), a prince who becomes Glinda’s infatuation. When he connects with Elphaba, she resists but feels the spark as well. Is there anything to the guy? In the song “Dancing Through Life,” staged as an energetic romp inside the campus library, he celebrates being ignorant. Even Elphaba can’t resist the fact that in life, pretty faces are instantly alluring. Guys and girls like sweet Munchkin Boq (Ethan Slater), who pines for Glinda, or Elphaba’s own sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) are the ones pushed to the side. Envy gets thrown in since Glinda wishes to be a sorceress but Madame Morrible bluntly tells her she doesn’t have what it takes. 

Emotionally, this is rather heavy material that still goes well with Chu’s sweeping vision. Dance sequences or that first moment Elphaba rides her broom are pure excitement. The arrival to the Emerald City, where the suave Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) plans great things for Oz like a charming Elon Musk, is staged as if Cecil B. DeMille were still around. We even get a glimpse of plans for a potential yellow brick road. The substance is never lost, however. “Wicked” slyly deconstructs its own source material. Beneath most fairy tales are edgier lessons. The Wizard is a crafty authoritarian who wants those famous flying monkeys from the story to serve as police state spies. His number, “Sentimental Man,” could be the theme song of most crooked billionaires or politicians. Chu had no idea just how relevant this musical would become in the month when it hits theaters. The sets may be gorgeous while the human tendencies get ugly.

As it tells a great story, “Wicked” should be seen for the sheer experience of a real musical on the big screen. We rarely get treats like this, with only Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” coming close in recent releases. Even that movie didn’t have the scale (or ravenous, waiting fans) of this production. Chu’s direction is confident, the cinematography by Alice Brooks feels classic, and John Powell’s music score compliments Schwartz’s original songs flawlessly. Those inevitable, small revisions or omissions are barely noticeable. Fans can also cheer at an added scene tailored specifically to feature Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, the original Glinda and Elphaba from the Broadway recording. Now Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande earn this material, giving it perfect comedic timing and poignancy. They are a hard act to follow, leaving us most certainly anticipating the second half.

“Wicked” releases Nov. 22 in theaters nationwide.