85 years later, Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz, the 1939 Oscar-nominated adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is still widely lauded as one of the best movie musicals in history for its revolutionary setting and scale, memorable characters, and Judy Garland’s wonderful performance. It’s no wonder it remained influential enough to inspire Gregory Maguire’s 1995 villain-reclamation novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which achieved new heights as a widely lauded Tony-winning musical Wicked. Now, Wicked, the first part of director Jon M. Chu’s two-part envisioning of the beloved stage classic, is finally headed to the big screen after a journey more circuitous than the Yellow Brick Road, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Musicals have long been a staple in Hollywood history, with 10 of them taking home the industry’s top prize. Films like Best Picture winners The Sound of Music, 1961’s West Side Story, Chicago, and other classics like Singin’ in the Rain, Little Shop of Horrors, and Cabaret have shown how complex, engaging, and diverse the genre can be. Wicked is the latest high-profile musical to hit American cineplexes with emerging Oscar buzz. It certainly isn’t Chu’s first time spearheading musicals or films with musical elements, having directed two films in the Step Up franchise, a pair of Justin Bieber concert films, and the musical Jem and the Holograms before his exemplary 2021 adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical In The Heights. With a stunning pair of central performances from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande and magnificent worldbuilding, Wicked’s first part is an incredible cinematic musical outing and easily one of the year’s best films.

What Is ‘Wicked’ About?

Wicked centers on Elphaba (Erivo), a girl who has suffered life-long bullying and derision after being born with green skin. She finds her way to a surprising enrollment in Oz’s Shiz University thanks to rare, innate magical powers and reluctantly becomes the roommate of the ever-popular perky narcissist Galinda (Grande). The two grate on each other before eventually becoming friends, and an invitation to the Emerald City allows the pair to meet Oz’s great and powerful Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). It’s there that Elphaba discovers that something’s rotten in the state of Oz, and it’s tied to the growing repression of the land’s talking animal population. She’s forced to take a stand, threatening her friendship with Galinda (now Glinda) and setting her on the path to becoming Oz’s so-called Wicked Witch.

‘Wicked’ Is a Masterful Display of Talent, Including Erivo’s Excellent Turn as Elphaba
Image via Universal

The green beating heart of Wicked is, of course, Erivo’s Elphaba. It’s her journey from pariah to Shiz powerhouse to Oz persona non grata (alongside her evolving relationship with Galinda) that forms the project’s core. Erivo brilliantly captures the character’s complex reservoir of pain, damaged hope, and bubbling anger, thinly covered by Elphaba’s stern-faced layer of superficial performative strength. It’s a fascinating, layered portrayal of a well-written character. Ariana Grande utilizes her considerable comedic chops as the bubbly, vapid Galinda/Glinda, full of privilege and delusions of grandeur. The pair have great odd-couple chemistry, providing strong opportunities for both conflict and humor. Jonathan Bailey adds renegade bravado as the devil-may-care Prince Fiyero, selling the character’s journey from apathy to activism with aplomb.

One of the Wicked movie’s biggest strengths is its extraordinary worldbuilding, with considerable thanks to the efforts of production designer Nathan Crowley and a talented art department. Shiz, the Emerald City, the countryside, and so many other locales are big, detailed, and vibrant, allowing audiences an impressive look and feel for the land of Oz. Chu and cinematographer Alice Brooks give Oz a proper sense of scale, which amplifies audience reception of the magical moments while showcasing the beautifully choreographed large group dance numbers (a skill Chu already exhibited with In The Heights). It’s a stunning, impressive translation of the Broadway spectacle into the language of the silver screen, lovingly evolving both the world and the film’s narrative beyond the beloved stage musical.

Related The Eerily Similar Accidents That Plagued Three Different Oz Witches This trio certainly had their work cut out for them.

While the larger-scale dance numbers and scenery are well shot, and the camera moves exceptionally well, certain shot choices could benefit from adjustment. On more than one occasion, for example, a big dance number is cut away from and into an awkwardly angled close-up that interrupts the momentum. There are also slight issues with the overall sound mix at times: Ariana Grande’s opening voiceover work, unless it is fixed for the wide release, isn’t clear. It then moves into a musical number between Galinda and the Munchkins (in a scene that occurs after the film’s events), but Grande’s soaring vocals are muddled and cacophonous against the others. The choice to split Wicked into two parts does allow for greater character development, but audiences won’t see if the overall narrative benefits from the lengthening until it’s all finally concluded in Part 2.

Jon M. Chu Is The Wonderful Wizard of ‘Ah!’s as Oz Amazes

Stepping into Oz is as ambitious as it could be perilous, given how widely beloved the best of these prior properties have become. Nonetheless, Wicked is a magical musical outing, and although it’s the first of a two-parter, it’s a clear success by director Jon M. Chu. While greatly expanding Wicked into two parts is a gamble for the whole, this first entry’s script provides a satisfying and well-written character progression for Elphaba and co. as Oz slides ever darker.

The film works on an emotional level, and yet there are also well-delivered lessons about growing fascism that are tragically poignant in our American era. The set pieces are big and bold, and the dance numbers are creative and colorful. Grande is continually hilarious as the charmingly vapid Galinda, while Erivo is breathtakingly powerful as the so-called Wicked Witch. Both Grande and Erivo sound glorious through beautiful interpretations of modern musical classics like “Defying Gravity.” It all coheres into one of the best silver screen adaptations of a musical in ages, and easily one of the year’s best pictures.

Review’Wicked’ defies gravity for a soaring, beautifully sung return to Oz with wonderful vibrancy and a true sense of scale.ProsAriana Grande shines as the hilarious Galinda, while Cynthia Erivo is pure magic as Elphaba.Jon M. Chu beautifully translates Oz with a wonderful sense of scale and full vivid color, giving a wonderful look at Oz.Both Erivo and Grande deliver beautiful, energetic renditions of now-iconic musical numbers, and the choreography takes full advantage of the possibilities of the big screen. ConsThere are minor but relevant issues with sound mixing and shot choice that could be improved.

The story of how a green-skinned woman framed by the Wizard of Oz becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. The first of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.Release Date November 22, 2024 Cast Cynthia Erivo , Ariana Grande , Michelle Yeoh , Jeff Goldblum , Jonathan Bailey , Ethan Slater , Marissa Bode , Bowen Yang , Bronwyn James , Keala Settle , Peter Dinklage , Aaron Teoh , Grecia De la Paz , Colin Michael Carmichael , Adam James , Andy Nyman , Courtney Mae-Briggs , Sharon D. Clarke , Jenna Boyd Expand

Wicked premieres November 22 in theaters. Click below for showtimes.

Get tickets