I have a deep and emotional tie to The Wizard of Oz and specifically Wicked in particular. My family watched The Wizard of Oz every Thanksgiving together when we weren’t watching football. It; ‘s always been a film I’ve gravitated towards my entire life because of the message. When I had the opportunity to see Wicked, the Broadway production, about ten or so years ago, I jumped on it. I loved what I saw that day in Tampa, Florida. What happened on the way back not so much. I never forgot that experience I had, though. Fast forward to today when I had the chance to finally see Wicked on the big screen from prolific director Jon M Chu, and it was once again a phenomenal experience. It is one of the best filmgoing experiences of the year thus far. It may, in fact, be the best movie I’ve seen all year up to this point. With little over a month to go.

The film starts at the end of The Wizard of Oz as Glinda, or GaLinda as she likes to explain, (Ariana Grande) tells a bunch of citizens of Oz the true story of who Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) truly is and how she became the titular ‘Wicked Witch of the West’. It’s a long and complicated story with the two of them meeting at ShizUniversity. The school that trains Ozian’s the way of the land. At first, Glinda is a bit stuck on herself and doesn’t want any part of the green-skinned Elphaba. She and her friends think she’s beneath them until accidentally the two end up as roommates together. Their rivalry starts there, and then a beautiful man gets in between them. There are petty differences in the various educations the two are getting and how the powers that be at the school and in Oz can use these abilities of one of them to their best interests. The play is split into two parts, and the first part, which I saw, is unbelievable, to say the least. 

I grew up watching a lot of musicals like My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. The one thing they have in common is their catchy yet very memorable songs. I can say after seeing the play there are a few very catchy and memorable songs in the production. Those songs were carried over into this magnificent big-screen adaptation.  Songs like The Wizard and I, Popular, and the amazing Defying Gravity sung phenomenally by Cynthia Erivo.  It’s her Oscar moment if you will. Both Grande and Erivo have songs that they sing in the movie, but the final performance of Defying Gravity that blew the roof of the Dolby Cinema I was in.

Cynthia Erivo has been on my radar for a while now. Ever since I saw her in Genius Aretha Franklin and shortly thereafter in Harriet, I knew she was a star. Her ability to bring emotion to every character she plays as well as her voice that can break windows in a good way. She just has star power written all over her. She’s won a Tony Award and been nominated for Emmys and Oscars, but none of these accolades have come close to what she is doing in Wicked as the green-skinned Elphaba. She takes every song and moment she’s in and makes it her own. Her voice soured in the theater. I watched the film in. She is simply incredible in this role and I had a feeling she would be. Her chemistry with Grande is fantastic as well. Now it’s time for her to get that Oscar she deserves to go with her Tony Award.  

Ariana Grande wasn’t on my radar until I saw her become one of the coaches on The Voice, a singing competition show on NBC. She has a sweet demeanor and I’m sure her music is good. Those who listen to it probably know more than I would.  I can only judge her from what I’ve seen. As the character of Glinda or Galinda as she expressed many times she’s fantastic. She brings her innocent dime energy to the forefront in this role. Along with her big and wonderful voice. As a compliment to Erivo, she’s fine. She has a mischievous nature too and her sweetness comes out in a bad girl way. She has an altier motive for her kindness. Erivo’s character finds that out in the end. This narrative is important in the film and in the world most of us live in today.

The supporting cast with Jeff Goldblum as shady The Wizard of Oz, Bowen Yang of SNL fame as one of Glinda’s school friends, Jonathan Bailey as the pretty and adorable Fiyero who is infatuated with Glinda, Michelle Yoeh and Peter Dinklage who play a teacher who is a which helping Elphaba who voices a CGI goat who is also a teacher. They are both at odds with eachother regarding how to handle the new student with incredible abilities and a few other famous cameos were pretty good, but it wasn’t the supporting cast that is the most memorable part of this musical it’s the two stars of it Erivo and Grande. I thought the supporting cast was good though opposite these two mega stars.

The technical aspects of this movie are going to get a lot of notice. The costumes, visual effects, hairstyling and makeup, production design, and sound are all on an Academy Award level. Jon M Chu brought all his expertise to the table here. He assembled a great group to help him bring this amazing film to life. I was instantly brought into this world the moment this movie started. I was never taken out of it until it was over. That’s how much this musical looked and felt to me. I was blown away by all the technical acumen on display. This is a multiple Oscar player in the tech categories for sure.

Wicked is a film that I had very high expectations for for months. Ever since I saw the trailer last spring. It is now after seeing it my favorite movie of the year thus far. Everything I could possibly want in a musical I got. The acting and singing from Grande and especially Erivo are phenomenal.  Their voices rang throughout the Dolby Theater I saw the film in. The look and feel of the movie instantly brought me into the world of Oz. The technical things including production design, costumes makeup, and hairstyling are all on par with the best of the year. The story based on a series of books that was turned into a Broadway play was one a lot of people can relate to. Especially in this day and age. This is a message the country needs right now and the movie that will show the world there is a better way than hate, anger and discontent. Our differences are our strengths, we all need to see that. This film shows that in a great way.

5 stars 

Dan Skip Allen