Hollywood adapting stage musicals as movies is nothing new. Sometimes the likes of Grease or Les Misérables are brought to the silver screen, creating instant classics. Other times, the world gets something like Cats that just became nightmare fuel and the butt of infinite jokes. A new musical adaptation, Wicked, brings one of the biggest musicals to the big screen. Does it honor the beloved play that theater fans from all over have flocked to see, or is this something that should have stayed on the stage rather than the screen? Let’s venture into the land of Oz to find out.

The Good

The performances are all spectacular, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande especially standing out. Their acting makes these characters feel relatable and lifelike, with a level of grounded emotion that guides the film. Their singing showcases their massive talent with incredible voices. Acting and showing this emotion while singing these iconic songs is nothing short of impressive. These are performances worth keeping an eye on around award season.

The dance choreography is simply captivating. Each move someone makes speaks to the personality of the character, with Glinda’s dancing feeling posh and dainty and Fiyero being a total show off. What takes the choreography to a new level is how they interact with the environment. Characters swing from rotating ladders, slide across table tops on library books, and hang from chandeliers. It’s all tremendous fun to watch.

The songs themselves are great. The lyrics are powerful, emotional, funny, and entertaining. They’re all extremely catchy and fun to dance to. Best of all, the singing never interrupts the flow of the story. Instead, it helps guide it along and plays a part in telling the story. The filmmakers stayed true to the source material’s music and it’s all worth listening to on repeat.

The production design, as well as the costume design, is insanely impressive. The sets for Shiz University, the Emerald City, and more are incredible constructs that help to create a truly immersive experience. The costumes are creative and unique, further bringing this magical and whimsical world to life.

Like the source material the film is based on, Wicked touches on some heavy and important topics that reflect issues with our real world. They’re entertaining and interesting to see on screen, but they also make the audience think about what’s wrong with the world we live in, how things got that way, and how we should go about resolving them. The best kinds of stories feel smart and important and reflect the world at the time they’re written, and Wicked succeeds at this in every way.

The Bad

The film is very colorful, which is always nice to see on a movie theater screen. However, it’s also bizarrely dark. It makes it hard to appreciate its colorful aesthetic and even difficult to see a handful of scenes as clearly as intended. The colors being muted a lot of the time also detracts from the fun greens, pinks, silvers, and other colors that make an Oz story feel so whimsical. It’s all an odd choice to make. When exploring a beloved fantastical world in a big budget film, why wouldn’t you want the visuals to pop more?

Speaking of the visuals, while the CGI isn’t bad by any means, it’s nothing to write home about. There have been a lot of movies in recent years that have had especially impressive CGI, so it feels weird that a production as grand as Wicked has so-so CG effects. All the traditional effects are Oscar-worthy, so it’s a bummer that the digital effects are just “fine.”

One of the characters, Boq, is a Munchkin. He’s clearly meant to be depicted as being short as he can’t see past a crowd standing in front of him and needs to stand on books to shake someone’s hand, but he’s average height. He’s even taller than Glinda. It’s clear that the Munchkins in this version aren’t as short as what’s depicted in the classic story, which is fine, but then why does he struggle to see over people and need to stand on books?

This is minor, but Elphaba and Glinda should realistically be spending all their time in detention for never wearing their school’s uniform. Most schools that require uniforms are strict on them, and this is clearly the case with Shiz since every other student wears them. Yes, the characters’ attire matches their personalities and is an important part of them, but it’s hard not to notice that they don’t dress like they go to this prestigious school.

Conclusion

This first film in the duology of Wicked adaptations is sure to make long-time fans and newcomers giddy with its brilliant performances, impressive production design, and captivating musical numbers. It’s entertaining in every sense of the word while also having a conflict that makes the audience think. Many are calling it the “perfect musical adaptation” and they’re probably not wrong. The weirdly muted colors, dark lighting, and so-so CGI are unfortunate blemishes on an otherwise excellent movie-going experience, but Wicked will have audiences of all kinds laughing, gasping, and tapping their feet. The second installment can’t get here soon enough.

Rating: 9/10

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