Between films like Mean Girls (2024), Dear Evan Hansen (2021), and Cats (2019), I had largely given up on movie musicals. That was until Nov. 26. When I stepped into the theater, my hopes were low. I knew almost nothing about the plot of Wicked and was slightly distrustful of Ariana Grande. I thought “there’s no way this will be remarkable, right?” Wrong. Wicked was everything you could hope for and more when it comes to musicals. My first words stepping out of the theater were “I hope part two is coming out soon.”
I loved a lot about Wicked, especially the aesthetic aspects of it: the handmade sets, the brightly coloured costumes, the cartoony dialogue. It was very cheesy, dare I say, camp. I think that’s what made it great. I love a movie that knows what it is. So many recent movie musicals seem to be hindered by their own inability to embrace their cringe. That, to me, is the lamest thing ever. This movie lavishes in its theater-kidness and it’s awesome.
A small detail that really caught my eye was the dialogue. The movie is in english, but they add these little embellishments to the language to make it seem more fantastical. This is mostly stuff Glinda says, things like “disgustifying,” “rejoicify” or “pronouncify.” They’re small linguistic changes, but they add so much to the movie.
I’d be remiss to write this without talking about the music. And wow, the music. Like I said at the beginning, I was initially distrustful of Ariana Grande as Glinda, but she does so great.
She hits these operatic notes during “No One Mourns the Wicked” that immediately made me think “oh, she’s serious about this.” But the whole cast does great, especially Cynthia Erivo and Bowen Yang. They were my favorites.
The choreography also adds so much to the film. Throughout this whole movie, people are jumping around and dancing about and it brings so much life to the production. I think the intricacy of the dances and how well executed they were made it clear how much love and effort was put into the film. My favorite song where you can see this is “Dancing Through Life,” but it’s pretty equal among the soundtrack.
The best part, in my opinion, was the costuming. I love, love, love how they used the fashion to show the differences between Elphaba and Glinda. Not just through the obvious contrast of their green and pink color pallets, but in the way that they dress. I thought it was interesting to see how Glinda had so many outfit changes and styles throughout the film. While Elphaba mostly stuck to a few dresses of similar shape, style and colour. I think it really helped visually portray how Glinda is willing to chameleon in with others, while Elphaba is more steadfast in her sense of self and her morals throughout the film.
This movie was such a breath of fresh air. It’s bright, it’s pop-y, it’s fun, it’s sad, it’s relevant. It’s everything I want from a movie musical and more. I was so blown away by the acting, singing, dancing, story, kind of everything. I cannot wait for Wicked Part Two, which is hopefully coming out next year, and I encourage everyone reading to go see that when it’s released.
