THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The Wizard of Oz has been one of those films to define multiple childhoods since the film came out in 1937. With other adaptations that have been released since, it made sense there would be one to rival which is the better version.
PLOT
Based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel that became a popular Broadway play in 2003, 2024’s Wicked (Part 1) shows a popular story exploring the relationship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy Gale ever came to the land of Oz. Although Munchkin Land quickly celebrates the death of the wicked witch, Glinda shares the truth of what she was like. Originally, she was ostracized at birth due to her green skin and having uncontrollable abilities. Nevertheless, she was in fact good hearted towards her wheelchair bound sister Nessarose. Originally named Galinda before being unintentionally mispronounced by goat history professor Dillamond of Shiz University, Glinda met both sisters at said college and was roommates with Elphaba due to the Dean Madame Morrible offering her private lessons in sorcery. Elphaba agrees to it as she aspires to meet the Wizard that would likely undo her green skin. As the semester goes on, she would also befriend Doctor Dillamond (Peter Dinklage) who is going through civil issues, as other talking animals are suddenly losing their ability to speak. Shortly after transfer student, Prince Fiyero Tigelaar of Winkie Country joins Shiz, the school hosts a dance at the Ozdust Ballroom. A munchkin named Boq Woodsman asks Glinda out, but she stealthily convinces him to ask out Nessarose, as she is already crushing on Fiyero. Her friendship would officially spark with Elphaba when sharing a dance. The following day, Dillamond announces his departure due to talking animals no longer being allowed to teach. As soon as he leaves, his replacement Professor Nikidik (Colin Michael Carmichael) demonstrates a new contraption that’ll stop animals from speaking. Unsettled of practicing on a lion cub, Elphaba releases poppy dust all over the room which puts everyone in class to sleep, except Fiyero and herself. They then leave campus together to free the cub, which has her spark feelings for the prince but doesn’t pursue due to believing he’s already preferred Glinda. After this day, she gets a letter to be invited to Emerald City to meet the Wizard after Morrible shared her potential to him. She invites Glinda to join her and after spending time sightseeing, the Wizard offers her any wish to come true. Instead of no longer being green, she hopes to help the animals with their dilemma. Before he can do so, he requests her to cast a spell from the sacred Grimmerie spell-book. She ends up casting a levitation spell which causes the wizard’s monkey guards to sprout wings, but this only leads to her deducing he and Morrible are using her to cast the spell to have spies as they’re responsible for what’s going on with the animals and the wizard has no true power of his own. As she storms off with the spell-book, Glinda encourages her to reconcile to have whatever else she wants, but she refuses to not stand by. As that happens, Morrible publicly declares her to be wicked. During this announcement, Fiyero leaves Shiz on a horseback and Elphaba’s father Governor Thropp (Andy Nyman) dies of a heart attack. The film ends in a cliffhanger as she flees Emerald City with the monkey guards and learns to levitate herself with a broomstick, leaving her only friend behind.
THOUGHTS
Because I never read the book nor make the time to see the play, I had no idea what to expect but chose to keep them low since it was obviously going to be a challenge in being in the bar of quality similar to the standards that have been made to The Wizard of Oz. Once I got through this first half, I couldn’t believe what I had witnessed. Due to previously directing In the Heights, Jon M Chu knew how to make a spectacle out of a musical and this delivered in being so. You already know the production/costume design is gonna benefit in making the setting so immersive, but the visual effects were always a successful element in making Oz lifelike once again. If you want to compare this to Oz the Great and Powerful, it easily bests in the design for the monkey guards because they were downright creepier than we got in the 30s. I also got to give credit to how the other talking animals appeared. It felt like a success seeing Dillamond and the lion cub as realistic as possible. Of course, this musical’s biggest strength is the music itself because about every song was able to keep you glued in to the progressing story. Like when you listen to the opening track ‘No One Mourns the Wicked’ and the interlude ‘Something Bad’, you’re positive this is gonna be a totally different experience and that is what makes it special. And as you get through this fantasy epic, you’re able to pick up on the most essential theme to always embrace your true self and stand up for your beliefs, no matter how many times people prefer to pressure you to societal norms. It’s a relatable dilemma that many go through to this day and the dynamic between both leads nail it in teaching us so. Considering that Broadway fans have high respect for what Kristen Chenoweth & Idina Menzel in the original Broadway adaptation (who cameo here as Emerald City residents), previously playing Glinda & Elphaba. The highest of expectations for this movie went to both Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo who I would arguably say they surpassed them. Grande has always wanted to be part of this franchise since she was a child and easily makes Glinda her own. No pun intended, but she’s accurately bubbly and ambitious when you hear her sing ‘Popular’, but due to coming from a privileged lifestyle, her relationship with Elphaba is what helps her accept she’s not the only one with talent. She did start out being a bully when giving her her grandma’s hat as a joke, but she accepts her as a friend by the time of the dance because she saw she’s just as human as everyone else. Erivo was her own juggernaut in her performance as one who wasn’t so wicked after all. She’s got her own oppression and is still able to be loyal to her own beliefs, which is sticking up for herself no matter the struggle and being a protector to her sister. The latter can be just as difficult since Marissa Bode made Nessarose most insecure that she would rebuff her sister’s affection. You have that relief she gets an equal with Boq since Ethan Slater presents him to be most earnest, but without even seeing the sequel, you get the sense of worry it won’t last as long as she hopes. Having said that, it’s still a relief Elphaba still finds people that see her for within. She accepts Glinda in return for that reason, which also defends why she crushes for Fiyero as well. The whole time as she sang ‘The Wizard and I’, ‘What is This Feeling?’ and “I’m Not That Girl”, you pick up on her own confusion because she doesn’t want to walk into disappointment yet still wants to cherish the happiness she hasn’t felt in a long time. I’m sold with Jonathan Bailey as the prince because as he leads the song ‘Dancing Through Life’, you’re sure of his carefree-ness is part of his sincerity towards everyone including her. I do think he likes her back for her purity, but doesn’t make a move yet because he doesn’t want her to get the wrong idea about him. By the time we make it to the sequel, it’s hard to say if it was ever too late to do so. Moving on, we know it can be a bad moment in our lives to meet your idols and having seen past adaptations, it was given the Wizard would be that kind of character in this narrative. We know he’s a fraud going into it, which becomes a revelation for the leads and his song ‘A Sentimental Man’ quickly foreshadowed his deception. The big difference is that he has bad intentions and is a big ass coward. And with Madam Morrible by his side, proven to be a manipulative figure of her own through Michelle Yeoh’s performance, you can argue he felt unstoppable until he got exposed. The climax between Elphaba & Glinda, ‘Defying Gravity’, is so damn cinematic of a moment because it delivers in bringing things full circle on saying there’s no shame to live without limits. The latter accepts this when intending to set things right, but the former is so afraid of the consequences to rebel that she fearfully chose to protect herself. However, she chose to mean well when giving her a cape before they go their separate ways. If Glinda’s look of sadness confirms anything though, she’ll be on her own path to set things right by the time of the sequel. While this movie lives up to the hype, there were a couple of things that didn’t make sense to me as I rewatched it. Like I know the only way Elphaba befriends Glinda is when they become roommates, but how does that work on the first day when she wasn’t officially enrolled into Shiz? I mean since it took a while for her to get enough clothes before the semester started, it’s crazy there wasn’t at least a spare room before such a big change. And would Glinda actually befriend her that night at the dance had she not been added to the sorcery seminar at her request to Morrible? It’s a big scenario when you think about it and the fact we’ll never know is crazy. Also, why does the Wizard need what looks like 200 monkey guards based on the hallway entrance alone? He already has a giant head to create the illusion he’s powerful, so that’s just over selling it on his part. On top of that, I know he and Morrible get exposed once they mention the intent to have spies, but it’s ridiculous neither Glinda nor Elphaba call out Morrible for pointing out the Grimmerie spells can’t be undone if she can’t read it. If she can’t read it, she can’t know how it works per se and they should’ve picked up on that. I respect Elphaba for wanting to help the animals, but why didn’t she think of helping Nessarose walk again? Considering she feels to blame for it, it’s a big twist she didn’t for someone so selfless. Other than that, this movie still works for what it is. In short, Wicked is a fantastic fantasy musical for being more thought provoking than expected, earning its Best Picture nomination in the process. If you’re a fan of the Broadway adaptation, I promise you’ll like this first half and be excited for the second one.
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