It’s fitting that the highly anticipated film adaptation of the iconic musical “Wicked” arrives in theaters a week before Thanksgiving. After all, both “Wicked” and your typical Thanksgiving dinner involve elaborate and ornate production design, a festive gathering of colorful characters from near and far, celebrations often marred by conflict, moments that remind us of the best and the worst of humanity, a running time that goes on and on — and when all is said done and we’re still digesting everything we’ve experienced, we’re already committed to gathering again a year from now to pick up where we’ve left off.
Whew!
As you might well know, “Wicked” is based on the blockbuster musical from Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman that was a loose adaptation of the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel “The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” which in turn was inspired by L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” as well as the legendary film adaptation from 1939. With John M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “In the Heights”) providing marvelously grand-scale direction, not to mention the award-level production design, costumes and makeup, and the winning performances from a greatly talented cast led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, “Wicked” is a wondrous old-school movie musical suitable for all but the very youngest of viewers. (Those monkeys have always been terrifying.)
Still, there are some moments that drag, some scenes that seem superfluous. With a running time of 161 minutes, “Wicked” tells only the first half of the story — and if “Wicked: Part Two” (scheduled for release on Nov. 21, 2025) matches that length, we’re looking at the prospect of a 5-hour, 22-minute saga. That’s an awful lot of screen time for a story that at times plays like “Carrie” meets “She’s All That.”
The vibrant and spectacle-filled tone of the story is established immediately in the darkly funny “No One Mourns the Wicked,” with the people of Munchkinland celebrating after Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Ariana Grande), bubble-drops in to deliver the news that the Wicked Witch of the West has been deceased. When a citizen asks if it’s true that Glinda knew the WWOTW, that’s our cue to flash back to the main story.
After a sequence chronicling the birth and childhood of a green-skinned girl with unusual but as yet unharnessed powers named Elphaba Thropp (played by Karis Musongole as a child), we arrive at the main story, set during the time period when Galinda (who will later change her name to Glinda) and Elphaba (now played by Cynthia Erivo) have a kind of meet-not-so-cute as incoming students at Shiz University.
The all-knowing and supernaturally gifted Headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) decrees that the privileged, popular, narcissistic and beautiful Glinda share her fabulous suite with the green-skinned and lonely and socially awkward Elphaba, which leads to the bouncy and hilarious Erivo/Grande duet of “What Is This Feeling,” which on the surface sounds like a fun-friendship number, but has lyrics along the lines of, What is this feeling, fervid as a flame, does it have a name, yes! Loathing, unadulterated loathing …
Casting is spot on, as we’re introduced to a variety of key supporting characters.
The great Peter Dinklage brings a warmth and humanity to his voice work as the absurd but sympathetic character of Dr. Dillamond, a history professor at Shiz University who happens to be a goat, and these are precarious times for talking animals in Oz. Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James provide comic relief as Galinda’s snarky friends. Marissa Bode does resonant work as Elphaba’s paraplegic younger sister Nessarose, while Ethan Slater is well-suited to the role of a Munchkin named Boq Woodsman who has quite the destiny awaiting him. Jonathan Bailey looks and sounds like a Disney prince come to life as the dashing Fiyero Tigelaar, who is immediately drawn to Galinda but finds himself deeply intrigued by Elphaba.
Later in the story, when the action moves to Oz, here comes Jeff Goldblum as the Wonderful Wizard, and while it’s impossible to ignore the “Jeff Goldblum-ness” of Jeff Goldblum, he glides into the role and makes it his own.
The musical catalog has the classic Broadway formula of alternating epic production numbers with character-showcase pieces and moving ballads. Highlights include Grande’s rendition of “Popular,” the introduction-to-Oz number “One Short Day,” Erivo’s soul-stirring take on “I’m Not That Girl” — and her thunderous and sky-rattling performance of “Defying Gravity,” which makes for the most powerful sequence in the entire first half of this story.
All the while, “Wicked” looks great, thanks to the combination of VFX and world-building practical sets. (As Chu noted in a post on X, some 9 million tulips were planted for the opening number, and the production team built a 16-ton moving train, as well as expansive sets for Munchkinland, Shiz University and Emerald City. It feels simultaneously fantastical and yet real.)
Cynthia Erivo is a generational talent who has already had a substantial film career (“Widows,” “Bad Times at the El Royale,“ “Harriet”), and she delivers a performance worthy of an Oscar nomination. Ariana Grande has a soaring voice and an instantly endearing personality, but she’s a pop star who is still working on her acting style, which at times harkens back to her Nickelodeon roots. It’s sweet and lovely work, but at times lacking in the type of subtlety required for film acting, even in a musical role with as much comedy as drama. Still, Erivo and Grande have chemistry in abundance and make for a memorable duo.
For now, we’re feeling a bit stuffed from so much “Wicked” in one sitting, but come next year, we’ll be excited to dig in for the second half.