Wicked's Parable: Love, Suffering, and the Temptation of Evil

I’m not the target audience for Wicked. I’ve never seen the original Broadway play, and to be honest, I’m not a big fan of musicals in general. In fact, when I first heard they were adapting this play for the big screen, my reaction was little more than a bored yawn. I had no intention of ever seeing it, but that all changed when the movie started to garner some buzz. It eventually became so big I just had to check it out for myself, and you know what? I’m happy I did.

Wicked was directed by Jon M. Chu, and it stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and the voice of Peter Dinklage. The film is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, but it indulges in a bit of revisionist history. In this version of the story, the Wicked Witch of the West isn’t evil…or, more accurately, she didn’t start out evil. She was once just Elphaba, a green-skinned girl with prodigious magical abilities who had trouble finding her place in the world.

Elphaba’s journey to becoming the villain we all know and love (or at least love to hate) starts when she attends Shiz University and begins studying sorcery, and during her time there, she meets Galinda, an aspiring sorceress who later changes her name to Glinda. The two get off to a rocky start, but after an initial period of “unadulterated loathing” (to quote a catchy musical number), they end up becoming great friends. Unfortunately though, their bond doesn’t last forever, and a shocking revelation soon sets their lives on very different paths.

Before we get to the real meat of this review, I have to give you a warning. You’d never know it from the marketing, but Wicked is actually the first installment in a two-part story, and a sequel, Wicked: For Good, is set to hit theaters this coming November. So don’t be surprised when the movie ends right when the story seems to be heating up. It’s a bit frustrating, but we’ll get a chance to return to this world soon enough.

With that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff, starting with the music. As I said before, musical theater isn’t really my thing, so you’ll never find me blasting songs like “Popular” or “Defying Gravity” on a road trip. But despite my disinclination towards this genre, even I have to admit that the music in Wicked is fantastic, and this entire cast does a great job of belting these songs out. Lead stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo prove once again that they’re world-class vocalists, and even Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, actors not generally known for their musical abilities, show off some decent pipes.

But the music isn’t the only beautiful thing in Wicked. The sets are similarly gorgeous, and they make you believe that this really is a fantasy world and not just a slightly tweaked version of our own reality. In particular, Shiz University has a whimsy to it that seems otherworldly yet still grounded, and the sprawling Emerald City looks like the kind of place where a wizard really would live. On top of all that, a number of these sets are practical, so they lend the experience a sense of tangibility that immerses you in the story way more than an overly CGI-laden film ever could.

However, as great as this movie looks and sounds, the real stars of the show are the characters and their tragic story. Everybody in Wicked does top-notch work, but as usual, the two leads are the standouts. Let’s begin with Ariana Grande. She plays Galinda, and she’s shockingly good. I had no idea this woman could act, but she’s truly Oscar-worthy in this role.

She imbues her character with the kind of naive arrogance that’s equal parts hilarious and pitiable, so you can’t help but get a kick out of just about everything this wannabe sorceress says and does. It’s truly a joy to behold, but there’s more to Galinda than initially meets the eye. As the narrative goes on, she comes to care deeply for Elphaba, and when those emotions rise to the surface, Grande absolutely nails them as well.

Unsurprisingly, Cynthia Erivo’s performance as Elphaba is very different from Ariana Grande’s, but she’s just as good. As I hinted at before, Elphaba has led a hard life, so she’s used to being mocked and rejected by just about everyone around her. She’s been forced to grow some very thick skin, but in her more vulnerable moments, she shows just how painful this abuse really is. It’s utterly heartbreaking, and Erivo masterfully pulls off both sides of the character without breaking a sweat.

What’s more, Elphaba is also an incredibly caring person, and if you ask me, her unflinching goodness is the real heart and soul of Wicked. No matter how much her family, neighbors, and classmates mistreat her, this girl absolutely refuses to break bad. She even cares about the people who mock her and hate her, and seeing that unwavering love towards everyone around her is truly inspiring.

At this point, you might be wondering how someone so good could become so evil, and to be honest, I have that same question too. See, Wicked doesn’t show us Elphaba’s full transformation into the Wicked Witch. We only get the very beginning of that turn, so the possibilities for part two are pretty much endless. Does Elphaba finally get pushed too far? Does she end up being more misunderstood than genuinely wicked? Or does the answer lie somewhere between those two extremes?

Since I’ve never seen the Broadway play, I honestly have no idea. For all I know, Wicked: For Good might run roughshod over the message of this first film and completely ruin the saga, or maybe it stays the course and cements this as one of the best two-part stories in recent memory. I’ll just have to wait and see how the sequel plays out, so for now, all I can do is judge Wicked on its own merits.

And as it stands, it’s excellent. Not only is this movie beautifully executed on just about every level, but it also features one of the most uplifting and inspirational characters I’ve seen in a while. Elphaba makes me wish I was half as loving and caring as she is, and as I’ve said before, that’s the best thing a film can do for its viewers.