Review: ‘Wicked’ starts slow but then soars

“Wicked” doesn’t need a movie adaptation to be relevant — it’s already a cultural phenomenon, even before the behemoth two-part film adaptation hit theaters.

The beloved Tony-winning Broadway musical is adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” a revisionist history of Frank L. Baum’s 1900 fantasy novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” and that book’s iconic 1939 film adaptation “The Wizard of Oz.”

This new film comes heaped high with a century’s worth of heritage, in the traditions of literature, screen and stage, and the massive expectations that come with that, too.

While Dorothy’s tornado-twirl into Technicolor is burned into our collective consciousness, so too is the massive note sung at the end of Act One, by the witch at the center of “Wicked,” Elphaba, in the show’s signature song, “Defying Gravity,” written by Stephen Schwartz (who wrote all the music and lyrics for the show). Director Jon M. Chu’s oversized movie adaptation takes every second of its two hours and 40 minutes to build up to that one note.

The battle cry that emerges from Elphaba (played by the Tony-winning, Oscar-nominated Cynthia Erivo) is a moment in which the anti-tyrannical ethos of the film snaps into sharp focus with such crystal clarity that it’s breathtaking. It’s just the preceding rising action that feels a bit underwhelming.

“Wicked” seeks to understand the Wicked Witch of the West, and the movie, which is written by Dana Fox and Winnie Holzman (who wrote the musical book) starts off when a denizen of Munchkinland dares to ask Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande), “Is it true you were friends with her?” That inspires a flashback to their days at Shiz University, where the pair first encountered each other.

Elphaba, rejected by her father because of the color of her green skin, follows her sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) to school and accidentally unleashes some rough, untrained powers, catching the eye of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). She’s forced to room with pretty, popular, pink-obsessed Galinda (the first iteration of the Good Witch’s name), and though they are at first at odds, Galinda can’t resist the intriguing powers of her new pal.

It’s essentially a high school musical, with more magic, but not enough movie magic. The script has got to get Elphaba and Galinda to Oz to meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), and hone Elphaba’s motivation for eventually defying the wizard (and gravity), which is wrapped up in a rushed subplot about talking animals being shunted out of a previously integrated society.

Elphaba sings emphatically about wanting to meet the Wizard, but why she cares so much is a bit underbaked. She wants to help the animals because she feels connected with their plight as someone who is also physically different, but that desire doesn’t go beyond surface motivations.

Grande is delightful as Galinda, showing off her comedic gifts and superb voice. She’s all big brown eyes and a pout, which she puts to marvelous use in her performance as the petulant princess of Shiz. But her character turns are also quite flat.

Bowen Yang does heroic work with a few ad libs and reactions as Galinda’s pal Pfannee, and Jonathan Bailey is terrific as the dashing prince Fiyero, but the setting doesn’t feel well-rounded on the screen.

Chu has done dazzling movie musical work previously with “In The Heights,” but despite the elaborate costume and production design, “Wicked” is his least visually imaginative film. The camera is liberated (via CGI) in the song and dance numbers, but everything else is filmed in a basic, boring fashion.

But “Wicked” will delight fans of the stage production as a faithful adaptation that is at once playful but reverent to the iconic “Defying Gravity,” and the story of understanding and togetherness despite social power structures that depend on fear and divisiveness.

With another installment on the way, “Wicked” is too big to fail. But the weight of expectations is a heavy thing to bear, and they bog down this capable movie version on its way to lift off.

The film may struggle to take flight, but when it does, it is undeniably moving, with a message of freedom and defiance that resonates now more than ever.

2.5 stars out of 4

Rating: PG (for some scary action, thematic material and brief suggestive material)

Where: In theaters