Wicked (Film) - Ben There, Done That
On October 30, 2003 the musical Wicked made its Broadway debut at the Gershwin Theater in New York City. With its success and growing popularity, fans have been anxiously waiting years for a film adaptation to be released. Finally, after two decades, the Broadway musical has made its way onto the “silver screen” of movie theaters.
I saw the movie last Thursday with my friend, and former editor-in-chief of The Bark, Izabella Zadra. I had seen the live musical twice, once on Broadway, and Zadra had read the books that the musical is based on. We both were prepared to see the movie, as we knew what it was going to be about.
We decided to watch the movie at Marcus Lakes Cinema Theater in Hermantown. Since we wanted to go all out for this movie, we dressed up as the main characters, Zadra as Elphaba and me as Glinda. Before we even got past the ticket counter, we had to take pictures with the Wicked movie posters and pose with our respective characters.
Once we passed the ticket counter, I immediately had to go buy popcorn. I don’t always get popcorn when I go to the theater, but I felt it was necessary to make Wicked a more authentic theater experience.
Zadra and I finally entered the theater and we scurried our way up to our seats in the back row. Zadra insisted that’s where we should sit so that we could see the whole movie screen.
I was excited for the movie to start, but it wasn’t until the lights dimmed in the theater and the Universal Studios logo, stylized to mimic the “Golden Age” of Hollywood, that a flutter of thrill ran through my body like flying Monkeys in the western sky. This was the moment I’d been waiting for.
When the movie started I was transported back to the feeling of seeing the live musical for the first time when I watched the characters perform “No One Mourns the Wicked,” the opening song to the musical. I’m always skeptical of stage-to-film adaptations, but just with this one song so far, I knew it would be great.
The sounds and visuals of the movie were outstanding. The costumes and sets of the movie seemed very realistic while maintaining the element of fantasy to make it feel as if this was a hyper-realistic dream. The choreography used throughout the movie calls back to its musical-theater origins.
I appreciated the “nods” the movie made to the 1939 The Wizard of Oz film, such as the opening title of the movie using a similar font as the 1939 film’s opening title or the choreography that was inspired by choreography from the 1939 film.
I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical of Ariana Grande’s acting abilities for this role when she was casted for it. As I was watching the movie I realized that she was the correct casting choice for playing the character of Glinda. As for Cynthia Erivo, I didn’t know much about her performance experience, but she played the role of Elphaba just as well as Grande did Glinda.
Alongside their roles, I think Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz was a great casting choice. Goldblum has this air about him that’s mythical and eccentric. I don’t think he was the best singer of all the characters that had their own songs, but at least he only had one. I still love Goldblum.
An intimate part of the movie that I really enjoyed was when Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship takes a turning point. Glinda joins Elphaba in dance after she feels bad for Elphaba being laughed at for wearing an ugly hat that she gave her. This hat would later become an iconic symbol that represents Elphaba when she becomes the “Wicked Witch of the West.” This scene showed Erivo and Grande’s great on-screen chemistry.
The movie has an all around great cast, but there were two actresses in particular for which Zadra and I almost jumped out of our seats with exhilaration. I don’t want to spoil who they were, but let’s just say they’re better known for their involvement with the live musical when it first started on Broadway.
My favorite songs in the movie included “What is this Feeling,” “Popular” and “One Short Day.” I like these, and other songs from the musical, so much that I have them on my playlist. My most favorite song from the musical, and served as the climax of the movie, is “Defying Gravity.”
When the first chord of the song played, Zadra and I grabbed onto each other. I think this was the pinnacle moment we were all waiting for.
I didn’t know if the movie would be able to capture that same feeling as when Defying Gravity is performed live on Broadway, but it most certainly did, if not better. Erivo’s vocal abilities while performing this song were incredible, and Zadra and I had to fight the urge not to sing along. This movie had one of the best climatic points I had seen done so successfully that gets you on the edge of your seat.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and it has become my favorite film adaptation of a Broadway musical. Even though the movie was two hours and 40 minutes, it didn’t feel dragged out and went by faster than I figured it would. I rate this movie five out of five stars.
The movie released this year is just part one, with part two set to release in November of 2025. That seems like a long time, but I look forward to when I can see it in theaters. Until then, I would highly recommend seeing Wicked, even if you’ve never seen the Broadway musical or read the books.