Glorious.  Enchanting.  Defying all expectations. 

Yes. Wicked is everything fans wanted and more.  I don’t believe I have to tell anyone in detail what the film is about.  In 25 words or less, it takes the Broadway experience of Wicked, the musical, and puts it on the big screen.  The film is part one of a two-part gift to lovers of the entire Wizard of Oz/Wicked oeuvre. The original by L. Frank Baum, the B/W movie original, the novel by Gregory Maguire and the Stephen Schwartz musical are all part and parcel of this eye-and-ear candy treat.

Part one concludes with Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) seated on her broom, making ready to take the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) to task for his lies and evil deeds he’s perpetuated for years in the Emerald City.  BTW, if you don’t know, Wicked's timeline predates the arrival of Dorothy in Oz and her walk down the yellow brick road.  The road is there, just without the Lion, the Tinman and the Scarecrow.  

So I’d like to sprinkle some magic dust here and talk about some Easter Eggs in Wicked that you may not be aware of, as well as explore the atrociously blatant racism and body shaming that is going on in social media about the stars.

Where did the name Elphaba come from?  L. Frank Baum.  L-F-B. It’s phonetic. The sound of letter “L”, then the sound of “F”, then one of the sounds of “B”.  I watched that on a Youtube video.  The amusing words that the Shiz U. students use that sound sort of like real words, but aren’t, such as the word for “glitch”.  At Shiz, it’s not a glitch, it’s a “Gulch”.  Yes.  As in Miss Gulch, the nasty, dog-hating, bicycle-riding neighbor of Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and Dorothy Gale in Kansas.  The buckets of water thrown by a young child at the start of the film. Poppies and napping.  I’m sure there are more, but frankly, I was too engrossed in Wicked to catch all of them.  

The singing by Galinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba was all recorded live.  As they’re being spun hither and yon, dancing and flying… they are singing and it's being recorded.  They didn’t go back and dub it in.  Why?  According to both Director Jon M. Chu and the women themselves, they wanted to pay respects to the original Wicked women (Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth) who did it every day and twice on Sundays. Broadway, live. For years. And for every actress who does it on every stage, live, across the world.

Speaking of the originals, Erivo and Grande were most definitely channeling Chenoweth and Menzel.  You could hear it.  You could feel it.  Yes, they put their own twist on them, but still.  The emotion is still there, with the tap on full blast.  And the originals, yes, are in Wicked.

What I really appreciated about Chu’s Wicked is the way in which it expands upon Schwartz’s original.  You have time to learn more about the other characters and enjoy the addition of new ones.  New characters such as Pfannee (Bowen Yang) and Shenshen (Bronwyn James) who were added in.  Their snide back-and-forth trashtalking is hysterical.  Giving a stronger love story to Nessarose (Marissa Bode) and Boq (Ethan Slater).  Highlighting the way in which Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) is drawn to both Galinda and Elphaba, for different reasons.  

When you’re watching the musical, which I’ve seen multiple times, there’s so much going on on-stage, sometimes it’s hard to catch all that’s happening.  I mean, they’re pushing everything into 2 hours and 45 minutes.  With two Wicked movies, the characters can breathe.  Peter Dinklage’s Dr. Dillamond, the professorial goat.  I can’t even remember his scenes in the show.  But here – he’s fully fleshed out and I’m sure there will be more to come from him in part two.  Ever wonder how the monkeys got their wings?  It’s here, in Wicked.  Sets the size of football fields and minimal CG.  In Norfolk England, Chu and Production Designer Nathan Crowley created entire fields of real tulips set in color blocked rows that lead to Munchkinland. Nine Million Tulips.

And let’s not forget the Wizard and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh).  Their plot to control the Emerald City for eternity is so much clearer here than in the show.  And you can tell they had so much fun in their roles. Once the curtain is pulled back from their friendly exteriors and you see their evil interiors, they embody the actual Wickedness of Oz.  And the costumes.  Oh my lord, the costumes, designed by Paul Tazewell.  A delicious fantasy.  I expect the costumes to one day reside at the Met’s Costume Institute.  You get a French kiss!

Turning now to the racism and body shaming that is running rampant on social media.  To those who are tearing their clothes in grief over casting, heaven help us, a black woman as Elphaba, well, you missed the entire point of Wicked.  A film about acceptance.  About diversity.  About growth.  About pushing the boundaries of what people see and becoming more.  And you’re ruining it for any child who listens to you.  You never heard of Erivo?  Too bad for you.  She already has a vast musical theater background, starring in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple for two years, winning a well-deserved Tony Award for it. 

And the body shaming.  “Eat a sandwich”, “Does she have cancer”, “She’s all bones”.  Yes. That’s what social media is saying about Ariana Grande.  Did you body shame Mila Kunis for Black Swan?  Beyonce lost 20 lbs for Dreamgirls.  Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.  I can go on.  Again, if that’s what is keeping you from seeing one of the most joyous films in 2024, you’re missing out.  Bigtime.  She’s radiant.

These women bonded and brought everything they had to the film.  To the anthems that are seared into the minds of theater kids of every age from across the globe, as they each defy the gravity that seeks to hold them down.  The stars know they have a year of publicity tours in addition to the year they committed to being in the actual film.  Two years, or more, of their lives.  That's committment.

If you don’t like Wicked, that’s fine.  That’s your opinion.  Just as I have mine.  If you miss this on the big screen, you’ll have missed an experience.  Not everyone likes musicals, I get it.  But the hate proliferating out there because these women, who ignore each other's exterior differences, who might just become role models for your kids, despite your best efforts to stop that from happening, well, it’s your loss.  Don’t watch.  But I can guarantee, your kids will want to watch Wicked every Thanksgiving when parts one AND two are played on Thursday and Friday, in the coming years. 

Lisa Blanck is the Associate Editor / Movie Reviewer for In Focus-Magazine.com and is a member of the Critics Association of Central Florida.  Her background includes 30+ years of digital editing for NBC and CBS News affiliates.  She also edits national promotional spots for Matter Of Fact, the #1 nationally syndicated news & information program.  For 30+ years she has covered the Florida Film Festival & the World Peace Film Festival, and has additional award-winning experience in advertising, marketing, promotions and live special events with MTV Networks.