The Wonderful World of Oz has returned to theaters in this stunning prequel. A well-known Broadway musical written by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, WICKED joins many other musicals on the big screen.
Taking place about twenty years before Dorthy journeys to Oz, WICKED tells the story of Galinda (the Good Witch; Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West; Cynthia Erivo) when they were roommates at school. Galinda is self-entitled, spoiled, and popular, while Elphaba keeps more to herself, is awkward, and is ridiculed because of her green skin. Early on, Elphaba exhibits her magic while dropping her sister off at school, and gets recruited to have one-on-one lessons with Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) with the hopes that she will get to work with the wizard (Jeff Goldblum) one day. After weeks, Elphaba gets invited to the Emerald City to see the wizard, where events begin to unfold that turn her into the Wicked Witch.
This adaptation is different from many other stage musicals turned to film. Many other musicals have cut songs or scenes to fit in the exact amount of time they are given or do the exact show that was put on stage. Whether it is a recording of the original show or written to be the same. While for WICKED, they chose to extend the movie, adding or extending scenes that were not made in the stage show.
The cast that was chosen to play the characters perfectly and truly brought them to life. They bring the message of the film to life with their acting, making it so you only see them as their characters. They chose actors and actresses who could pull off the songs, sounding as if they were written for them. Especially because all of the music was filmed live, meaning that the actors were dancing, running, and more all while having to sing.
The costumes that had been created for the characters fit both the characters and the actors themselves. Most of the characters are wearing school uniforms, but there are times when they are not. At the “Ozdust Ballroom,” the colors that they chose to use were all bright, similar to Munchkinland in the original movie. When looking at Galinda’s costumes, they chose to have a modern look to the dresses, while keeping the baby pink from the original film. However, they did choose to have different shades of pink for some of the outfits. While for Elphaba, they chose to keep the look from the original movie of a long all-black dress. Other than that she wears the school uniform with either a light blue or white long-sleeve shirt underneath like all the other students.
This prequel connected to the original film very well. It had many of the characters from the original: Glinda (Galinda in WICKED), Elphaba, the Wizard, and the munchkins. With references too, like the yellow brick road, the melting of the witch, and the theatrics of the Wizard. However, the prequel did leave you with questions of how it all turns into the story of Oz we all know.
The only negative part of the movie was they did not mention one important detail in the advertising. Until you get to the theaters to watch the movie, many do not realize that WICKED is a two-part movie series. Unlike the movie, the original Broadway musical had only one show with a run time of just under three hours. They chose to expand the content of what was originally each act to make two movies, but that was not advertised until the movie was released. So many people had gone in without expecting to be left on a cliffhanger. The release date of the second movie has been released and is said to be November 21, 2025.
Other than not advertising that it was two parts, the movie was spectacularly brought from the stage to the big screen. The cast, story, and music all tie together to create this wonderful prequel that leaves fans waiting for part two. Highly recommended by many, WICKED is a movie you will not want to miss.
