A colourful, entertaining movie musical that feels exhaustingly dragged out for reasons tied explicitly to profit and greed, Wicked  is a mostly boisterous, often effervescent ride that nonetheless deserves a first-ballot induction into the “Does This Need to Be This Long?” Hall of Fame.

 

This adaptation of the 2003 musical, loosely adapted from a 1995 novel and based on characters from 1939’s The Wizard of Oz — itself adapted from a 1900 novel — features an unshakably confident, powerful performance from Cynthia Erivo in the lead role, and a winning turn from actress turned pop star Ariana Grande as her sidekick. And it has real whiz-bang visual flair thanks to director Jon M. Chu.

But Wicked runs an excruciating two hours and 41 minutes, which is 12 minutes longer than Pulp Fiction and 15 minutes longer than Goodfellas, two flicks that have nothing to do with Wicked but which both managed to tell full sagas in less time. And this is somehow merely part one of the Wicked story; the second half is due out in theatres a year from now.

 

That gives us five hours, at least, of a two and a half hour stage show. And deep dives are fine, but this broadly told story of acceptance of others and fear manufactured by the powerful — a timely message, to be sure — doesn’t warrant or justify a series-length treatment.

 

Thankfully Erivo and Grande go a long way in bringing it to life.

Broadway veteran Erivo plays Elphaba Thropp, the brilliant but misunderstood and picked on young woman who would go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Grande — a stage kid dynamo since her early days at Nickelodeon — plays the bubbly Galinda Upland, who is on her way to becoming Glinda, the Good Witch, the people’s witch of choice.

The pair meets at Shiz University, where they room together, much to the chagrin of the pampered Galinda. They’re polar opposites — Galinda is a well-meaning but airheaded do-gooder, while Elphaba is quiet, reserved and chooses to keep to herself — but they come together when Galinda chooses to give Elphaba a makeover and make her “Popular,” the first song where Wicked truly pops.

 

Elphaba is spotted by Shiz headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), who sees her abilities and capacity for magic and takes her under her wing. Eventually, Elphaba and Galinda are off to Oz to meet the great and powerful wizard, played by Jeff Goldblum, whose stuttering, Goldblumian charm masks his nefarious intent.

 

That’s the long and the short of it, although there is plenty of worldbuilding in the script by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. The rounding up and capturing of talking animals by militarised forces and a strong theme of power’s misappropriation act as political allegories both past and present, giving the story an added resonance and timeliness.

 

The visual sensibilities of Chu, a veteran of the Step Up series who graduated to Crazy Rich Asians and 2021’s In The Heights, give Wicked a feeling of sparkling whoosh, though his heavy use of special effects takes away from the dazzling production design’s practical elements.

But Wicked’s most valuable asset is undoubtedly Erivo, whose sturdy presence anchors the film. She’s a symbol of resilience and self-assurance, especially when the camera fixes on her in close-ups, and her mighty vocals power the well-known songs, especially the climactic Defying Gravity.

 

Grande is an excellent foil to Erivo, and she earns her share of laughs as she imbues the Galinda character with a sense of fizzy enchantment.

But dividing Wicked up into two parts feels like a corporate decision rather than an artistic one, a way to milk the property for all its worth at a time when studios need sure things to count on at the box office and intellectual property is squeezed until there’s nothing left of it but an empty husk. Turns out there’s always some great and powerful entity behind the curtain pulling the levers, and we’re all subject to their whims. Hmm, that sounds like a movie I saw recently…

 

7.5/10 It’s superb in moments, but ultimately just too long

Boluwatife Adesina
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.