The long, long, long-awaited film adaptation of the stunningly successful Broadway musical "Wicked" is finally upon us. After years of delays and months of inescapable marketing, one can scarcely believe it. Of course, there is a catch: this is only part one of the story, stretched beyond comprehension to a whopping two-hour and forty-minute runtime.
The film is as maximalist as the show, featuring bombastic orchestration, complex choreography, and special effects that make it look closer to "Harry Potter" than "The Wizard of Oz." "Wicked" exists to overwhelm its audience, to make them feel the plight of the so-called Wicked Witch of the West.
In this manner, the film is a complete success. In terms of staging, director Jon M. Chu makes some baffling choices that only hinder his talented performers, led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. It stands to make one billion dollars in box office and streaming receipts.
Oz and oddities
In the land of Oz, the people celebrate. A young girl from Kansas has melted the Wicked Witch of the West with a bucket of water. Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) watches the Munchkins dance from her bubble, silently reflecting on her school days with her former friend Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), before anyone had any magical titles.
Elphaba was an outcast from the day she was born, with green skin and uncontrollable telekinetic powers, preferring the company of books and talking animals. Fate brings Glinda and Elphaba together at Shiz University, a school where the curriculum is vaguely magic-centric but is otherwise no different than our colleges. The rivalry between pink and green swells, each vying to prove herself to Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and win an audience with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz himself (Jeff Goldblum).
Describing the plot of "Wicked" only does it a disservice. You need only roll with it and enjoy the music of Stephen Schwartz, deftly performed by the enthusiastic cast. The music is not the issue here. It's the lighting. The film is somehow underlit and overlit at the same time, forcing its protagonists to wander through shadows and blinding lights while belting their songs.
The sets are well designed and the costumes are top notch, but we can hardly see them half the time. The other half, we need sunglasses as the light blinds us. It's a real shame that such an expensive production seemingly did not employ any key lights. It was distracting to watch Elphaba disappear into shadow while singing "The Wizard and I" with no thematic purpose, just feeling as though the lighting rig wasn't ready.
Rage and range
Ariana Grande is the clear standout, a master of physical comedy and disarming sweetness who takes over every scene with a toss of her hair. She could easily walk away with an Academy Award for this performance.
Cythia Erivo has a magnificent voice, but the character of Elphaba is flattened and far less dynamic than her pink counterpart. The actual depth to Elphaba's character has fluctuated over the years, sometimes bubbling with rage, sometimes more of a Quasimodo figure. Here she mostly stands and watches people debate her humanity, rarely interjecting until the very end.
It's an unfortunate choice that fortunately cannot take away the power of the song "Defying Gravity," what everyone is here to see. Erivo delivers on that end, but I'm curious to see if she's allowed any danger when she is ostensibly 'wicked' in the story's back half.
Mercifully, "Wicked" is one of the few "Part Ones" to have its "Part Two" ready to go. In just a year's time, audiences will be treated to the back half of this magical story, where they keep all the uninteresting songs. It will also probably make one billion dollars.
While I wish the homoeroticism of Glinda and Elphaba's friendship shone through as strongly here as it can on the stage, Ariana Grande singing "Popular" and Jonathan Bailey's shockingly gyratory dancing are plenty queer enough for gay audiences to cheer.
The real test is if anyone can stand the film's atrocious lighting and languid pacing (we only reach "Dancing Through Life" an hour into the story), but I have a feeling it won't matter. "Wicked" is undeniably powerful despite some misguided plot elements, but that's just how musicals work.
Far be it from me to reject what the story of Elphaba's defying gravity means to audiences around the world. Hopefully Jon M. Chu takes a plea for three-point lighting to heart and does some digital magic of his own before next year's finale.
'Wicked' is currently screening at several Bay Area cinemas.
www.wickedmovie.com
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