“Wicked” Delivers a Thrillifying First Part

Wicked (Jon M. Chu, 2024) 4 out of 5 stars

Wicked has grandiose “slippers” to fill as an adaptation of Wicked The Musical, one of the most acclaimed theater productions that is still running to this day. With that said, this film is only the first half of the story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo, Harriet), the Wicked Witch of the West, and her counterpart, Glinda the Good (singer Ariana Grande).

The buzz surrounding this movie and whether or not it would be “good” was insurmountable: the fear that it wouldn’t live up to the expectations and high standards set forth by the original stage musical and the dozens of Elphabas and Glindas that have come before on stage; presumptions that marketing rode entirely off of household names and neither talent nor commitment to creating something great. And that’s what this movie is: great.

Cynthia Erivo brings many things to Elphaba: namely modernity, cunning, and sincerity. Her assumed wickedness is more reserved; highlighted more so by subtle expression and quippy line delivery that directly opposes the performance of Ariana Grande, a far more excitable and dramatic character … and her rival. Despite being opposites in every single way, when it comes down to it, they as actresses complement each other very well and have clear chemistry on screen. To put it simply, they bring Oz back to life.

Still, the film is not without its shortcomings. With a runtime of 175 minutes, Wicked is quite the watch and struggles with its pacing. To put it into perspective, Wicked the film extends the story of Act 1 of Wicked, the theater production, from one-and-a-half hours to three full hours. The time is filled with beautiful fluff: extended song and dance numbers, exposition, conversation, the list goes on. You don’t begin to feel that it’s fluff until the latter half of the movie, however, when you realize you’ve been seated for over two hours and still haven’t gotten to hear Erivo’s rendition of “Defying Gravity.”

The wait is well worth it, but feeling the length of time it takes to get there is a bit rough. If you don’t realize that the film is only the first part of the story (for all of its marketing, a lot of people didn’t realize that this would be a two-parter!), the film would feel like a lot of buildup for very minimal resolution. Wicked has an immense amount of love and adoration poured into it by director Jon M. Chu (In the Heights) and the rest of the team; so much so that despite its pacing issues and minor narrative flaws, it’s impossible to walk out of the theater not changed … for good.

Treasure McCorkle

Treasure McCorkle is an award-winning screenwriter and producer from Baltimore, Maryland. She has worked on many different projects in many roles, ranging from directing and producing to assisting art departments and providing casting direction, including the feature film Stealing Cars and her college-thesis film, AVA. In addition to this, Treasure has written many other acclaimed short films, ranging from family drama to psychological horror. Treasure is currently working on many different projects, including the development of audio drama series Valleyfell. You can see examples of her film work at treasuremccorkle.com .