Wicked (Jon M. Chu, 2024, USA/Japan/Canada/Iceland/United Kingdom)

Wicked is Jon M. Chu's film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, which in turn is based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. Hollywood seems to churn out at least one major musical per year these days, and Wicked was a breakout hit for Warner Bros. in 2024. In an age of fractured media consumption, it is somehow quaint and charming when a film can build some kind of resonance, as was the case with the Barbenheimer phenomenon one year earlier.

Wicked is not as strong a film as either Oppenheimer or Barbie, but perhaps this was not the ambition. While we have not seen the original musical here at Cinephilic Musings, we have heard that the film is remarkably faithful to the source material. Even the film's length (close to 3 hours) lends credibility to this. It is clear that the film was largely meant to appeal to fans of the original production, and it has succeeded in doing so. The film seems unlikely to win new converts to Wicked, though it seems to bring Ariana Grande into the fold as The Good Witch was intended to do just that. Grande is actually one of the surprises of the film.

There are some serious themes in the film, and a subplot involving talking animals that are forcefully driven out of their positions in society. But this element seems tacked on, with the main driving force being the relationship between the good witch Galinda and the bad witch Elphaba. Wicked ultimately wears out its welcome, and the charm in the opening of the film is lost over time. This is lessened somewhat by the appearance of Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, who brings his curious effect to the performance. Wicked is a serviceable adaptation of a Broadway musical that is likely to appeal to fans.

6/10