WICKED

As someone who is suspicious of any film musical since 1979's ‘All That Jazz’ (a kind of high water mark), and as one who doesn’t feel that every villain needs a backstory, I approached this film with some trepidation, especially since turning a stage musical into two lengthy films seemed self indulgent.

Despite all of these concerns however, I enjoyed the ride.  It didn’t drag, it has some decent songs (and one very good one), and it wasn't as CGI-heavy as it might have been.

It also sprung a few surprises.

For example, it's very woke.  Not content with a main character, Elphaba, who is discriminated against solely because of the colour of her skin, the story gives her a sister in a wheelchair, as well as (another surprise) talking animals who are being persecuted.

Their oppressor is of course the Wizard of Oz himself, but trying to explain to any young children watching this film why he is being so beastly to the cuddly animals might be challenging.   According to my infallible AI guide he's using them as a scapegoat, since turning a marginalised group into a common enemy is a typical authoritarian tactic.  It's a sophisticated concept for a musical, and one which could easily be seen as a commentary on the way immigrants in the US are currently being demonised.  

Less surprising is that the story features a handsome prince, who gets to have a choice of soul mate: either blonde airhead Glinda or green-skinned woman of substance, Elphaba.  Initially he seems sufficiently vain and shallow to be a perfect match for Glinda (she certainly thinks so) yet ultimately it is Elphaba with whom he connects.  I didn't find their romance convincing but it does give us a lovely song, 'I'm Not That Girl'.

Maybe I liked this song so much because it's a rather old-fashioned ballad, sung soulfully, something of a rarity these days. 

Of the other numbers the two standouts are the catchy ’Popular’, in which Glinda tries to give Elphaba a makeover, and ‘Defying Gravity’ which is the backdrop to the spectacular cliff-hanger ending 

Predictably none of the dancing or choreography did much for me, but no matter, it seems that the art of choreography well and truly died out with the death of Bob Fosse.

Unusually the main relationship in this tale doesn't involve the prince at all, but instead is the off-on-maybe-off-again relationship between Elphaba and Glinda.  They are brought to life in two marvellously contrasting performances by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande respectively.  And of course they do full justice to the songs.

Equally impressive in their quiet way are the two villains of the piece, Jeff Goldblum, well cast as the shifty but charming Wizard himself, and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, whose contempt for Glinda is a continual delight throughout the film.

With so much going on, including the worldbuilding, it's not surprising that two other potentially important characters get a bit lost in the mix, the aforementioned sister Nessarose, and Boq, a Munchkin hopelessly in love with Glinda.  Both could be removed from this film without being missed but I presume they have a role to play in the sequel. 

If I'm being honest my main interest in the story was trying to work out how on earth (or Oz) it is going to dovetail with 'The Wizard of Oz' classic.

Which is why I am very excited to watch the sequel.