Overview
Overall the new “Wicked” movie, an adaptation of “Wicked”, the musical, was extremely successful. It ranked 66th in the All-Time Domestic Box Office and 4th in the Top 2024 Movies at the Domestic Box Office. It was rated 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with one of the critics, Joel Harley, emphasizing that “Wicked is a dazzling re-staging of the Broadway classic – successfully adapting its epic story for the big screen, while keeping every bit of the magic intact.” Although it is an adaptation, it is only half of the original musical, with a second movie, continuing the story, being made at a later date. As a standalone film, even though it struggles in some aspects, this film is breathtaking for two main reasons: the music and the sets.
The Music
This film opts to highlight the music. Rather than petitioning for famous actors who can’t sing, they have chosen to hire actors who can sing. The main stars, acting as Elphaba and Glinda, are Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, both extremely famous for their voices. Furthermore, they chose to film the singing live, which although it may seem like a bad idea, is in actuality performed perfectly. Songs such as “Popular” and “Defying Gravity” stayed the same hits of the original musical, while other songs also got a chance to shine. Some of the stand-out ones were “Dancing Through Life” and “What Is This Feeling?” obtaining a combined total of over 30.6 million streams on Spotify. All together the music is extremely well done and effective, matching or exceeding expectations all around the world.
The Sets
The sets featured in “Wicked” are stunning, each one is shown off fairly well. Some exceptional sets were the sets of Shiz University, The Emerald City, and Munchkin Land. The director explained to Architectural Digest that “[his] goal was to go beyond the matte paintings, beyond a digital world, and really let the audience step into Oz.” The set of Shiz University was constructed over the course of 20 weeks. In the movie, they emphasize certain locations, such as their room at Shiz. Each one of these locations has a near-endless amount of detail and realistic props. The Emerald City’s main highlight, not to downplay the details and props, is the unique and eye-catching color scheme of green and gold, while in Munchkin Land they planted over nine million tulips for a single set. Each of the sets shows how much care and talent went into such a phenomenal movie.
Shortcomings and Recap
Although the movie was extremely good, there were a few problems with it. A shortcoming found with it is the story. The story is okay at best. It has interesting and thought-provoking themes of how wickedness is portrayed in society as well as intriguing static characterization that allows for powerful identities. It doesn’t, however, show the characters’ change well enough. Their change is shallow and one-dimensional, in which only one aspect of a character is focused upon. While it connects to those themes, it doesn’t truly allow you to understand and know the characters on such a personal level as found in other stories. As its own movie and not being compared to the musical, another shortcoming is that it leaves several parts unexplained and the entire movie unfinished. Despite these comments, hopefully, most will be resolved in the upcoming sequel. Yet, it is unclear how well a first-time viewer of this franchise would make amends with this. Still “Wicked” is one of the best movies of 2024, with its phenomenal music, sets, and themes.
I 100% recommend it to people looking for a fun fantasy film that shines in a lot of aspects. “Wicked” was truly a masterpiece of art and music.
