Wicked: Defying Gravity

Wicked (2024), or, as the movie's title card reads, Wicked: Part I, is a perfect film for these socially and politically uncertain and tumultuous times. As a musical theater fan, movie musical lover, and social and political activist, I find this movie to resonate on all fronts as a timely metaphor for the nuances of good and evil, fascism, state-run propaganda, and taking a moral and literal stand before it is too late. The fact that it is incredibly well-made and entertaining only adds to my admiration for this movie. In anticipation of this year's release of Wicked: For Good (a.k.a. Wicked: Part II), I think now is the time for me to finally share my thoughts on Part I of director Jon M. Chu's two-part cinematic adaptation of the 2003 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name and Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel before it.

Wicked: Part I follows the intertwined journeys of Elphaba Thropp (played by Cynthia Erivo), who would later be known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda Upland (played by Ariana Grande, or Ariana Grande-Butera as she is credited onscreen), who would later be known as Glinda the Good. From their first meeting at the prestigious Shiz University, their initial rivalry and blooming friendship before fateful circumstances draw them apart.

Acting-wise, this movie soars thanks to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande's Oscar-nominated performances as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. Erivo's soulful vocals, deeply empathetic and compelling character arc, and emotionally dynamic performance, combined with Grande's effortless charm, exquisite comedic timing, and delightfully vain personality, make for one of the most compelling onscreen pairings in recent memory. There is one sequence in particular set at a night club where the two dance with each other with little dialogue that is incredibly powerful and made their Oscar nominations all the worth it. Their onscreen and clear offscreen chemistry is palpable, and their musical harmonies are just the tip of the iceberg of talent and skill this cinematic duology is.

The supporting cast, made up of Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, the voice of Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum, go above and beyond what are asked of them from their respective roles performance-wise and contribute some show-stealing scenes and performances, especially Bailey as the charismatic and rebellious yet good-hearted prince and transfer student Fiyero Tigelaar and Bode as Nessarose Thropp, Elphaba's wheelchair-bound younger sister (Bode is wheelchair-bound in real life), whose character contrast to her older sister of seeking independence and love is just as compelling and serves as a positive example of paraplegic representation in film. Slater's portrayal of Boq Woodsman, a meek admirer of Galinda who is paired with Nessarose by Galinda, adds to a small romantic triangle between the three, which thankfully does not take too much time away from the main action.

Peter Dinklage's vocal performance as Dr. Dillamond, a talking goat and history professor at Shiz University, an all-too-real analogy for people of color/racially and ethnically diverse people being oppressed and having their voices metaphorically (or in this case, literally) taken from them hits home especially hard these days given the current political administration's concerted efforts to intimidate any dissentients from speaking out with threats of deportation or whitewashing history by spreading their propaganda through the various media outlets they control or bullied into submission.

Speaking of which, Michelle Yeoh gives a strong performance as Madame Morrible, the Dean of Sorcery at Shiz University, who takes Elphaba under her wing as the sole student in her Sorcery seminar. Her character has an air of both sincerity and mystery to her that is deeply compelling to watch, especially during the third act, which I will not spoil here.

She sings a little bit here, which is admirable considering Yeoh's admission that she had never sung before this. Another performance worth talking about is Jeff Goldblum's as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. While he is essentially a variation of the Jeff Goldblum we have come to know and love for years, his character has a sleazy charisma that will eventually be realized in Part II (no spoilers for those who have never seen the musical) and shares some real-world parallels to strongmen with dictatorial tendencies who are little men with no personal power themselves yet seek to control others through force.

This movie fires on all cylinders in just about every aspect of filmmaking. From Alice Brooks' sweeping and colorful cinematography, Myron Kerstein's lively editing, and Christopher Scott's electric choreography, to the reliance on elaborate costumes and hair and makeup, the extensive usage of practical effects, full-scale sets, functional props, and a seamless weaving of CGI with the in-camera effects, to John Powell and Stephen Schwartz's rousing musical score and numbers that emotionally, metaphorically, and literally take audiences to new cinematic heights. The clear show-stealers are undoubtedly "The Wizard and I", "What is This Feeling", "Dancing Through Life", "Popular", and "Defying Gravity". There are also plenty of stylistic and visual homages to the classic musical, The Wizard of Oz (1939), from the use of the same stylized letter fonts and visual presentation as the MGM musical's opening titles for this film's opening and ending credits, a 1930s-inspired variation of the Universal Pictures logo at the beginning of the movie, to several subtle musical references to recognizable tunes like "Over the Rainbow" and "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" hidden throughout the musical score.

However, what gives this movie its timeliness is its masterful tackling of subjects like the spread of fascism as shown through the human characters' forceful suppression of animal history and their cultures, along with those with knowledge of them and the subsequent whitewashing of said history and simultaneous replacement with state-run propaganda, the poisonous societal demonization and othering of those who look, act, or are different from others, and minority groups as exemplified by the anthropomorphic animals, and encouraging the audience to stand up and speak out against cruelty and injustice towards others before it is too late. With the United States' political situation being as dire and, in a sense, worse than one could have imagined, the timing of this film's theatrical release (November 2024) could not have been more prescient. Simultaneously, had things gone a little differently in the political world, this movie's themes would most likely not have been nearly as effective as they are now.

Wicked is a modern cinematic movie musical for the ages, and given a little time, it should join the all-time classics like Cabaret (1972), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Funny Girl (1968), The Sound of Music (1965), Singin' in the Rain (1952), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and of course, The Wizard of Oz. Assuming that the upcoming sequel, Wicked: For Good (2025), is as good or better than Part I, this musical duology could be one for the history books. Do not miss this musical (see it in either theaters or at home), even if you are not a fan of musicals. You will be changed 'for good', so to speak.

Final Score: 10 out of 10