Review: Wicked Was Better Than I Expected (Spoilers)

I’m not usually a fan of musicals. While I enjoyed them when I was a kid, that was because they were put together by Disney. Other than that, I’ve never seen a musical in person, have never watched a Broadway performance online, and generally don’t care for the soundtracks since I’m also not a big fan of show tunes. Thus, when the movie adaptation of Wicked came out, while I thought the movie looked good from the trailers and enjoyed the review videos from YouTubers, I didn’t really care that it was a thing.

That is…until last weekend when I watched it for the first time on Prime. That was when I finally understood the hype around the movie.

#1: The Casting

Ariana Grande as Galinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) were the perfect choices. Both can sing really well and while Erivo perfectly portrayed Elphaba as a misunderstood social outcast longing for belonging, Grande did an awesome job of portraying the self-obsessed, bubbly, airheaded Galinda. I would say that the best bit of acting from these two was during the dance scene where Elphaba and Galinda finally become friends. The scene encapsulates Elphaba’s loneliness as she dances by herself amidst her laughing peers and Galinda finally feels empathy for Elphaba and dances with her. It’s an emotionally impactful scene that helps build Elphaba’s story as well as Galinda’s character arc.

As for the other performances, I thought Fiyero’s actor did a fine job and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz was also great. The guy who played the character Boq also did a good job being a simp for Galinda (probably because he’s a simp for Ariana Grande in real life). The only person I had a problem with was the lady playing Madame Morrible. While she did a good enough job with the character, any time she had to sing, I thought they should’ve picked a different actress or gotten her a voice double to sing for her.

#2: Costuming

The costuming in this movie was another thing that really stood out to me. Not only did it keep the original styles from the original 1930’s film for the Munchkins, but it also incorporated some styles that would’ve been reminiscent of the time when the books were being written, which I thought was a fun touch. As for the more modern outfits, they still fit into the world, looked great, and fit with each character’s personality traits and characteristics. During the song “Popular,” there was even an Easter egg when Galinda offers Elphaba a pair of ruby slippers.

#3: CGI and Backgrounds

The CGI in this movie was also stunning and, unlike the stuff we get in most other movies now, it actually looked good. However, the best part was the backgrounds of the sets, especially in the Emerald City, where amidst the green are pops of pink everywhere that really help catch your eye.

#4: Race Issues and Disability

One of the worries I had about Wicked was that it would go totally woke with the characters of Elphaba and her sister, Nessarose. The reason why is because a large part of Elphaba’s story is about how she’s a social outcast for having green skin and Nessarose is disabled and wheelchair-bound because of a birth defect. I was worried the movie would make the characters personalities revolve completely around these things but was pleasantly surprised to find that the way they handled these topics were nuanced and appropriate for the story and audience. They certainly played a part in the motivations of each character but didn’t overwhelm the characters’ humanity.

#5: The Problem of Evil

When this movie came out, a lot of Christians on the Internet were saying that this movie shouldn’t be watched by or endorsed by Christians for the same reason why so many Christians hate Harry Potter: witchcraft and occultism. However, as a Christian myself, and someone who loves fantasy, I have a different take on this.

While the movie does have occultic elements and does endorse sorcery, the reason why I think Christians should watch it is because it deals with the problem of evil. In fact, the entire thesis of the movie, play, and books (yes, the play that inspired the movie was inspired by a series of novels by Gregory Macguire) is “What makes people wicked?” It asks if wickedness is something people are born with or if it’s something that’s more of a societal construct, a nature vs. nurture type of thing. This is a problem that everyone deals with at some point in their lives, and I think as the movie plays out, it could be used as a good way to open a conversation with your kids (or even for you to start thinking) about what does cause evil and how do we fix it. It can also be a good way to open up a conversation about what other worldviews think about evil and why they may not make sense.

[Author’s Note: Just as bit of a side tangent here, while I’m recommending the movie as a way to open a conversation about the problem of evil, I do not recommend getting the books for your kids (especially if they’re young). While I have not read them myself, from what I have heard, they are not the same as the play or movie and are actually much darker, with some very sexually perverse things in them. Stick with the musical and movie.]

#6: Wokeness?

Overall, the movie wasn’t very woke, as I pointed out earlier. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s no woke scenes. During Fiyero’s song, you see a lot of guys fawning over Fiyero (including one trans guy trying to be a woman), but that’s the only sort of LGBTQ+ thing that I saw in the movie, despite what may be said in the weird, cringey interviews where both Erivo and Grand look like they’re on way too much Ozempic.

Until next time,

M.J.