Wicked has always had a legacy to live up to. From Frank L. Baum’s 1900 novel, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” to the classic 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz,” to Gregory Maguire’s 1995 book “Wicked” and its subsequent stage adaptation, which still runs on Broadway today. Needless to say, “Wicked” the movie has a lot to draw from — but this also comes with large pre-existing fan bases to please.
“Wicked” tells the origin story of the villain in “The Wizard of Oz,” the Wicked Witch of the West. In the 1939 movie, Dorothy Gale melts her with a bucket of water after the Wizard of Oz instructs her to bring him the Wicked Witch’s broomstick. In “Wicked,” her name is Elphaba.
Throughout the film Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) learns to wield her rare magical powers at Oz’s Shiz University, hoping to someday meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). Meanwhile, she harbors an “unadulterated loathing” for her roommate, Galinda (Ariana Grande), which over time develops into a strong and unlikely friendship.
The film ends with Elphaba escaping on her broomstick after discovering, as Dorothy does in the 1939 film, that the Wizard is not what he was promised to be. Most of the story is left unresolved, leaving “Wicked Part Two” with many plotlines to tie up. The best aspect of this movie is its cast. Goldblum crafts a Wizard that comes off as both funny and dangerous. Jonathan Bailey perfectly exhibits the dashing yet secretly complicated Prince Fiyero. Eve Eyal, a Berkeley High School sophomore and fan of the musical, comments, “(Bailey) made it his own ... But he did it in a good way, that didn’t undermine the original vibes.”
Grande’s voice reaches incredible high notes that capture Galinda’s vain yet caring nature. She nails Galinda’s little self-centered quips and is easily the funniest cast member. The peak of Grande’s performance is her physical comedy, with her over-the-top hair flips and exaggerated facial expressions.
However, no performance outshines that of Erivo. She uses her immense vocal and acting talents to develop Elphaba’s character. First, she portrays a girl who sees nothing in her future and idolizes the Wizard. With her belting voice, Erivo matures the character, from the adolescent elation of “The Wizard and I,” to the end scene of “Defying Gravity” where her voice reaches fullness.
The director of “Wicked,” Jon M. Chu clearly wished to preserve some of the original Broadway charm. The cast sang live on set, and the film features cameos from the original production’s Elphaba and Galinda, Idina Menzel and Kirstin Chenoweth. Bria Matubrew, a BHS sophomore who also saw the stage production and the movie, noticed a lot of similarities between the two. “There were a lot of little jokes they took from the musical that they put in the movie.”
However, one feature that has not carried over well from stage to screen is the world of Oz. A stage set is naturally confined, so not fully developing Oz is excusable on Broadway. On screen, such under development is jarring. Somehow, the 1939 “Wizard of Oz,” with its plastic sets and hand-painted backgrounds, makes Oz feel expansive. Yet, something about the pristine backgrounds of “Wicked” feels shallow and uninhabited. One does not get the sense that Shiz is an actual school, and it feels as though Munchkinland and the Emerald City consist of only what we can see of them. How the land of Oz managed to remain underdeveloped over the film’s staggering duration of two hours and forty minutes is a mystery.
Eyal, who also saw “Wicked” on stage in San Francisco, attributes the length of the film to drawn-out dialogue, “The extra time came from them just looking at each other. They added in an entire hour of pregnant pauses.”
Nevertheless, Chu and his cast nail the emotional richness of the story. The movie opens with the announcement of the death of the Wicked Witch of the West and the citizens of Munchkinland throwing a celebration in honor of the good news. Which is why watching Elphaba’s friendship with Galinda blossom and her singing confidently that nothing will ever bring her down is heartbreaking. The audience knows Galinda will turn against her, and they know that Elphaba will die in the end.
Even when one knows the ending, one can’t help but get attached to the characters of “Wicked.” BHS freshman Ellah Altman jokes, “My only critique is that I do not think I can wait for part two.”