On Nov. 22, Universal Studios released the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, “Wicked,” prequel to the 1939 film, “The Wizard of Oz.” The film stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as the leads, Glinda and Elphaba. Actors such as Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Bowen Yang and many more big names play other roles in the movie.
With this star-studded cast and the $145 million budget, the film had high expectations from those eager to go see it; expectations it greatly lived up to.
Since its release, Wicked has gained an 8.2/10 from critics on IMDb, and a 90% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. After seeing the movie, I can only agree with the critics: this movie is like no other. I feel that this movie is a 10/10.
The film begins with celebrations following the death of the Wicked Witch (Elphaba), but the rest of the movie is a flashback of Glinda and Elphaba’s time as friends and roommates at Shiz University, the college that they both attended and met at. During her time at Shiz, Elphaba learns more about herself and the supernatural talents that she has possessed since birth. During this time, she also discovers the injustices being committed against animal citizens of Oz.
As her abilities grow, she catches the attention of “The Wizard,” a person looked up to by all of those who practice magic, including Elphaba.
The movie cuts off after their initial meeting, and is to be finished in part two, which will be released Nov. 21, 2025.
Nothing about this movie falls short. The performances of Grande and Erivo, as well as all of their co-stars, are perfect. One of my biggest fears going into the movie was that the main characters on screen were going to be Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, but I was, thankfully, wrong. I knew Grande was a talented actress from her performances in shows such as Nickelodeon’s “Sam and Cat” and “Victorious,” but she has grown exponentially in fame since those shows. However, knowing her mainly from her music did not distract at all from her performance, and I can confidently say that she was the right choice to play Glinda.
The film has visual appeal that is matched by few, from the sets to the costumes to the lighting. The settings of the movie are gorgeous, especially those at Shiz University and in the Emerald City where the Wizard resides. The costumes are perfectly representative of those used on Broadway, even taking them a step up. The movie is beautifully shot, giving the right lighting to all of the scenes, and adding subtly to the overall mood of the scenes.
The soundtrack to this movie is also phenomenal. The songs stay true to the versions from the original musical, but each of them are interpreted by the singers in their own way. Some of the songs that I believe stand out are “The Wizard And I,” “What Is This Feeling?” “Dancing Through Life,” “Popular” and “Defying Gravity.”
Universal’s latest hit is definitely worth seeing, I would even argue more than once, whether during its run in theaters, or when it is eventually released on streaming. After its run in theaters, NBC has confirmed that the movie will be available to stream on Peacock.
