Wicked is the fourth-longest-running Broadway musical. Now, this Broadway classic has been turned into an award-winning film with a strong cast and beautifully portrayed story that has far-exceeded expectations. Wicked has achieved what very few musical-movie adaptations have been able to do: create a movie that is as good, if not better, than the live Broadway musical.
Directed by Jon M. Chu, Wicked has received ten Oscar nominations and earned over 700 million dollars worldwide. Wicked deserves the praise it has received, as this movie features a talented cast, has an incredible soundtrack, and innovatively portrays the Wicked that audiences have loved for decades.
The soundtrack of this movie is fast-paced and exciting. With performances of the same 11 original songs from the Broadway rendition of Wicked, the musically-experienced cast adds their own personal flares to make this movie’s soundtrack unique and exciting. Cynthia Erivo’s riff at the end of “Defying Gravity” has even become a viral internet sensation.
The world of Oz is constructed beautifully, with the movie’s practically-made, real-life sets, rather than green screens and CGI. Wicked was able to successfully use its 150-million dollar budget to turn sets from the Broadway musical into enormous magical backdrops. Shiz University even has glimmering water with real-life boats. The Wizard’s Palace boasts a massive animatronic of the Wizard.
There has been some internet discontent over this movie clocking it at a surprisingly long two hours and 40 minutes. However, the fast pacing keeps the movie rolling along, preventing the movie from feeling too slow. If scenes had been cut to shorten the movie, critical character and story development would have been cut, leaving the movie lacking depth.
The decision to split Wicked into two movies, with a movie for each act of the original Broadway musical, has proven to be controversial. Many think that the musical is being stretched out too much, with the first movie alone being longer than both acts of the original musical.
However, this decision was necessary for the movie-adaptation of Wicked. With essentially twice the amount of time per act in comparison to the Broadway musical, Wicked is able to deepen and complexify storylines in a way previously impossible. The bigger sets, more powerful soundtrack, and sheer size of everything in the movie allows the audience to dive deeper into the story.
The second part of Wicked, Wicked: For Good, will be released on November 21, 2025.
The acting in Wicked is compelling. Ariana Grande shows off her acting and musical skills with her performance as Glinda She is able to wittily capture the bubbly, naive, and humorous personality of Glinda.
Cynthia Erivo’s powerful voice and bold acting prove that she was a strong choice to play Elphaba. Her acting is emotional and strongly depicts Ephaba’s cynical, yet caring, nature.
Elphaba’s intense character development is a major element of Wicked, as she turns self-consciousness into confidence and inexperience with her magic into fierce power. Erivo captures this character development with noticeable changes in her attitude and singing. Her musical performances at the end of the movie are powerful and fierce, as opposed to her more light-hearted singing at the beginning.
Michelle Yeoh makes her singing debut as Madame Morrible in Wicked. While it is clear she doesn’t quite have the musical chops as the rest of the cast, she still gives a decent acting performance. However, her singing is mediocre at best and falls flat in comparison to the rest of the cast.
Wicked had the potential to fall flat, with high expectations set for the movie to live up to the iconic Broadway musical. However, Wicked didn’t just succeed in avoiding falling flat, it soared.
