Wicked movie review: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande enter our hearts in this gravity-defying standout performance

after harmfulWho saw the Sleeping Beauty story from the perspective of the antagonist, here L. Here’s another revisionist look at the famous Wicked Witch from the other side of Frank Baum’s 1900 novel ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.’

For those who came late (like all those Phantom comics), director Jon M. Chu (crazy rich asian) provides a summary of the events where Dorothy eludes the Wicked Witch of the West and goes home to Kansas down the Yellow Brick Road with her dog Toto, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow. As the people of Oz celebrate the death of the Wicked Witch, the Good Witch, Glinda (Ariana Grande) joins in.

When one of the good people of Oz asks her about the Wicked Witch, Glinda admits that she knows her and it’s time for a flashback. Elphaba was the daughter of Munchkinland’s Governor Throop (Andy Nyman). Her skin color, thanks to her mischievous mother (Courtney-Mae Briggs), meant that Elphaba was always rejected and made fun of by those around her.

She also feels responsible for the condition of her paralyzed younger sister, Nessarose (Marisa Bode). When she arrives with her father to drop off Nessarose at the luxurious Shiz University in Oz, her father insists that she stay to see that Nessarose is properly settled. The sorority’s dean, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), sees Elphaba’s power and offers to teach her. To control his magic. Glinda or Galinda, as she was then known, is beautiful, pink, and popular. While she wants to study witchcraft under Madame Morrible, she is unwilling to have Elphaba as a roommate as Morrible suggests.

Despite initial hiccups, two very different girls become friends during a wild party at the Ozdust Ballroom. As revealed by a goat history professor named Doctor Dillamond (Peter Dinklage), Elphaba is sensitive to the undercurrents of Oz, including the fact that animals are being kept outside and losing their voices. There is a stir on campus when handsome and determined shallow wonky prince, Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey) joins Shiz. Although Elphaba dreams of meeting The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) and impressing him so that when she finally meets him she can ask him to change her skin color, but she doesn’t want to.

Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in a scene from the movie ‘Wicked’ Photo credit: Giles Keyte

Wicked Works wonderfully on many levels. It is the study of what motivates people to do the things they do or think the way they do. It’s a look at what’s considered normal and what makes a villain, while also celebrating the joys and tears of being different.

Wicked It is a musical film, an action film with brilliantly choreographed songs and breathtaking stunts. The sets, physical and CGI, are a feast for the eyes, especially the library whose books (rare and medium rare, as Glinda helpfully explains) are housed in giant wheels – if only Fiyero hadn’t stepped on the books. The girls’ room, the Ozdust Ballroom, the Emerald City, the strange and wonderful train that takes Glinda and Elphaba to the Emerald City, and many more, are all fantastic sonnets for the imagination.

Erivo and Grande play their roles with gusto, singing, dancing and dueling, while Bailey is delightful as the prince charming. Yoh is extremely enigmatic and Goldblum is a joy to watch perform the jig. 160 minutes of Wicked Slipping in the Technicolor flash and the fact that Part II, coming in 2025, puts a gleeful song in anyone’s heart.

Wicked is currently running in theaters