L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – America’s own answer to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – not only spawned a subsequent series of books by Baum himself, but countless adaptations across various media after entering the public domain in 1956. The version everyone knows is the iconic 1939 musical film starring Judy Garland, but there are also obscure titles like the 1985 dark fantasy Return to Oz and the Sci Fi Channel’s 2007 miniseries Tin Man. However, there are some adaptations whose stamp over Baum’s creation have left a bigger impression than others, such as the 2003 stage musical Wicked.
As a loose adaptation of the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman has been an ongoing success, starting with the original Broadway production, which has spawned many productions worldwide, breaking box-office records. Because of its success, the show made its way into popular culture with its songs like “Defying Gravity” being featured and covered on numerous platforms. And now, two decades after its initial theatre production, we finally got the film adaptation, or at least, the first of two.
While it might seem initially weird to adapt Wicked into two movies, considering that the running time of the theater production is two hours and forty-five minutes, Wicked: Part 1 stays faithful as well as expanding on a story that essentially serves as a prequel to the classic fantasy narrative that we all know. Instead of focusing on Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto entering the Land of Oz, the story takes place years earlier where the green-skinned outcast Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and the shallow, but popular Galinda (Ariana Grande) attend the prestigious Shiz University.
Obviously, the film takes cues from its theatrical roots, but given we had recent works like the underperformed, but terrific Transformers One, you can’t help but see the parallels as both films serve as prequels that showcase the unlikely friendship between two characters before their iconic rivalry. Another odd coincidence is how one of the two protagonists learns about the dark truth of a system that she decides to rebel against it, even if she is branded for her villainy. That is not to say that Elphaba goes as maniacal as Megatron, but considering that she will become the Wicked Witch of the West – one of the great villains in cinema – Wicked paints her in a more sympathetic light.
While a wizarding school has now become a well-known trope in modern fantasy, the primary setting of Shiz University, which puts a magical musical spin to the American high school setting, serves as a platform that challenges the two leads in order to get them out of their comfort zone. Due to her outcast nature because of her skin color, the only friendship Elphaba finds initially is with the anthropomorphic animals, including the goat Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), the history professor who becomes a victim of a hate crime. As for Galinda, who can never quite break of her shallowness despite her attempt to help others, it is during one night during the Ballroom where she and Elphaba bond, leading to the film’s most impactful sequence.
With a running time that is almost as long as the stage production, Part 1 expands its characters and ideas, whether it is issues of prejudice or the exploration of Jonathan Bailey’s Prince Fiyero who may not be as self-absorbed as he proclaims. There is a sense of the narrative being drawn out, especially with the appearance of Jeff Goldblum who may be perfectly cast as the Wizard of Oz, but he does act and indeed sing in his own pace, so your mileage may vary. However, what holds the film together are the two central performances by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who carry such emotion through their chemistry and solo acts, where their silence is just as impactful as their incredible singing.
Ranging from concert films like Justin Bieber: Never Say Never to VFX-driven blockbusters like G.I. Joe: Retaliation, director Jon M. Chu’s true strength is when he embraces the musical sensibilities whilst not being confined by the limitations of the theatre, as evident in 2021’s In the Heights. The same goes for Wicked, which may evoke the iconography that you associate with the Land of Oz, and yet its lavish production design and CGI creatures that inhabit can rival the grandeur of many big-budget blockbusters today. While you can argue that the film relies too much on its visual noise, Wicked has to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
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