Film Review: Wicked Part One

 

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

Casting can make or break a movie.  In the case of Wicked, one bad casting decision almost destroys the entire movie.

Wicked Part One is an adaptation of the first act of the hit Broadway musical of the same name.  The story is a prequel of sorts to The Wizard of Oz which imagines that the Wicked Witch of the West, also known as Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) as the misunderstood hero.  Because she is born green and with magical powers, she is shunned.  She accompanies her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) to settle her in to Shiz University in Oz.  But when Elphaba displays her powers, she catches the eye of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and takes her under her wing to study.  Morrible also has Elphaba room with the spoiled Galinda (Ariana Grande), who could only be described as "toxically feminine."  The two develop a rivalry that slowly blossoms into a friendship.  Along the way they encounter others like the clutzy munchkin Boq (Ethan Slater), the dashing Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), the goat professor Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage), and eventually the Wizard of Oz himself (Jeff Goldblum).  This is a journey of discovery that tests loyalty and friendship.

I have never seen the stage version, but I know the music.  And I have to say that the execution of the musical numbers is top notch.  Music is all about your emotional reaction and I could not help constantly getting chills by the beautiful melodies.  Part of me is a bit cautious here because the music goes past the rational and can color my impressions.  This is why for a year I actually thought the that show Glee was good: the music cast a spell on my until the overwhelming weight of its own incompetence broke that spell.  

Does Wicked cast a musical spell?  

The answer is yes.  But it also has some other things going for it.

The production value on this movie is fantastic.  While there are some clear green-screen moments, most of the sets are actual, physical sets.  I'm not someone who is a purist who is against the use of CGI, but having a concrete enviornment like in this movie, makes the magical world feel all the more tangible, as if you could turn the corner and accidentally end up in the fairy tale.  The production designers do a good job of matching the style of this movie to that of the classic Wizard of Oz without being too slavish.  The costumes and sets feel like they are in the same style without being copies.  

Director Jon M. Chu knows how to shoot this musical so that you get the maximum effect.  He marries the music to the visuals in a way that doesn't feel like he is cutting together a music video.  Instead, he captures the grandeur and drama of the moments.  When Elphaba hits a powerful note, he pulls the camera back so that you can feel how her voice fills up the environment with this strength.  When Fiyero dances through the library, the camera dances with him to make the entire scene feel like it is dancing.  The choreography is wonderful and eye-popping in a way that enhances the emotion of the scenes.

The real stand-out, though, is Erivo herself.  In the lead up to the movie, she was posting snarky things about fans of the musical.  Having never seen her perform, I was a little off-put by her.  But I have to say that her performance is quite incredible.  She is full of charisma and is able to convey Elphaba's emotional journey with impact and honesty.  She makes you feel all of the things Elphaba does on her emotional journey in a way that does not feel forced only by the music.  But her voice was beautiful and it packs a wallop.  One of the best things about her performance is that she does not portray her like a misunderstood saint.  Instead, Elphaba has a giant chip on her shoulder that in many ways justifies the prickly reception she sometimes receives.  Erivo owns both sides of the character and draws you in completely.

This brings us to the worst part of the movie: Ariana Grande.

In my reviews, I try not to be too targeted at individuals.  But Grande is so mind-bogglingly awful in this movie that it gnaws at me.  Her presence is like diced onion in your ice cream sundae.  She is a spray-bottle of water to the face.  She is out-shined, out-classed, and out-acted in every scene.

Her body language, dancing, and singing are fine.  But her acting is some of the worst I have seen in a movie.  She is completely dead-behind-the-eyes.  Perhaps that's what she was going for with playing Galinda as vacuous and vapid.  But all of that artificiality is supposed to cover a real beating heart, which isn't there.  It's like everyone else is making a movie and she is filming a music video: everything is all surface.  Take a look at the moment she finds out she is rooming with Elphaba.  When I saw that, all I could think of was Quint from Jaws: she's "got lifeless eyes, like a doll's eyes..."  Contrast her performance with Margot Robbie's in Barbie.  In that film, Robbie was playing a literal doll, but she still managed to infuse her with way more depth and humanity that any single moment from Grande.

Honestly, Grande almost ruins the movie.  But Erivo so knocks it out of the park that she keeps the movie going.  Grande's broad, empty performance actually fits into the first third of the movie's tone.  Most of the students at Shiz University feel like flat stereotypes.  You can see this in Bowen Yang's equally horrible performance.  Granted that I enjoy stories that go from the light and fun to the deep and tragic, but if it wasn't for Erivo, I think I may have tuned out the entire first third of the movie.

The rest of the cast is decent.  Bailey acts as a wonderful counter-weight to Erivo's personality and he plays it with incredible charm and charisma.  Slater also brings a goofy charm and has good chemistry with Bode.  Yeoh is decent, but she feels a bit out of place.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Goldblum's performance.  In the original Wizard of Oz, I never liked the Wizard and found him to be more sophist than philosopher.  Goldblum plays the part of the flim-flam man with charm and menace.

There are a few engaging themes in the movie.  One of them is about cliques and judgment.  This movie could have devolved into allegory, but it wisely makes the theme applicable enough to any situtation of unjust hatred.  Dillamond is subject to prejudice because he is a talking animal.  Rather than this feeling like a preachy lesson about a current social issue, it felt like it was getting more to the heart of the ugliness of prejudice in general.

One of the best things about the movie is how it portrays female friendship.  Women can be devastating in emotional attacks and reputation destruction.  And you see that play out in the movie.  But there is an openness to emotional connection.  The moment Galinda and Elhpaba actually connect is wordless and powerful.  The movie also shows how things look different through the lens of friendship. Soon after their friendship begins, Galinda still behaves in a superficial and shallow way.  But instead of rolling her eyes, Elphaba simply smiles at it.  There is a great truth that many of us don't own up to: most of our affection is a choice.  Once we decide we like someone, the things that would have annoyed us are winked at because we know the person inside.  This is an important lesson for Catholics who struggle with people they don't like.  If you treat someone as if you like them, your affections will change.

And while the idea of seeing a classic story from the villain's perspective feels a bit worn out now, Wicked makes it feel fresh.  As someone I listened to recently pointed out, Wicked was one of the first stories to do this in the pop culture.  Because of that, it understood that it had a huge obstacle to overcome in rehabilitating Elphaba so it used all of its power to do so.

If you are a fan of big, bold, theatrical musicals and you can overlook the charisma vacuum that is Ariana Grande, then you should also enjoy Wicked Part One.