Since its premiere in 2003, the musical “Wicked” has grossed more than $3.5 billion at box offices worldwide. In the list of the most successful films of all time, that would easily be enough for the top position – well ahead of “Avatar: A Journey to Pandora” ($2.9 billion) and “Avengers 4: Endgame” ($2.8 billion). But the popularity of the original alone doesn't guarantee a cinema hit, and the cats from “Cats” can literally tell you a thing or two: Although “Cats” is actually one position ahead of “Wicked” in 4th place in the list of the most successful musical franchises of all time the film adaptation, which had a blockbuster budget, failed mercilessly in 2019. Instead of a standing ovation, the screen musical received almost exclusively scorn and ridicule – until finally even the actors started making fun of their own film.
But as much as “Les Misérables” director Tom Hooper got wrong with “Cats,” “In The Heights” mastermind Jon M. Chu gets it wrong with “WickedThat’s right: He had more than $300 million at his disposal for the two films – “Wicked – Part 2” follows on November 25, 2025. But instead of investing in disturbing CGI effects, Chu invested the budget in exactly the right way, namely in magnificent sets that were mostly actually built and two leading actresses who are absolutely perfect in their contrasting roles. Set before and after the well-known events from the classic “The Wizard of Oz”, “Wicked” is a fantasy adventure with immense entertainment value, which, despite all the colorfulness, has a dark, dystopian, emotionally devastating plot that is almost on a par with the later ones “Harry Potter” volumes inspire and challenge.
Glinda (Ariana Grande) takes Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) under her wing – at least when it comes to fashion.
The witch is dead. She was melted with a bucket of water – and of course the audience knows that a girl named Dorothy, a scarecrow, a tin man and a frightened lion must have had a hand in it. But why did the wicked Witch of the West actually become so evil? “Wicked” explores this question by jumping back to the college days of its two protagonists: Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) was born with green skin after a momentous affair with her mother. Since then, she has led a life as an outsider – not even her own father, the governor of Munchkinland, has an ounce of love for her. An academic education is not planned for her, even at the prestigious Glizz University she is actually accompanied only by her little sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who is in a wheelchair, on her first day of study.
However, the headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) recognizes Elphaba's great magical talent – and insists on teaching her personally from now on. This in turn makes Glinda (Ariana Grande), who is loved by everyone and who is terribly spoiled, incredibly jealous – after all, she had firmly assumed that she would be first in the director's favor. While the involuntary roommates eventually get together and even become friends, the racism directed against talking animals increases more and more. Professor Dr. Dillamond (voice in the original: Peter Dinklage), a goat, is even banned from working and taken away in front of his students. Elphaba's only hope: the great Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), who even invites her to his palace in the Emerald City…
No matter how good the effects are, handmade is still better
“Wicked” begins with Elphaba’s iconic witch hat in a steaming tar puddle, while Dorothy and her companions skip along the Yellow Brick Road in a good mood after completing their “heroic deed”. But despite this dark, ironic opening and the increasing signs of a despotic conspiracy, “Wicked” is – especially in comparison to the much darker sequel next year – still an above all joyful and colorful film: the first tracking shot from the witch's castle West to Munchkinland, including a blue flying monkey, reveals the full beauty of Oz – in completely solid CGI animations that have little to complain about, but there are some Not exactly something that will blow your mind away. But that will be made up for a little later…
… because Jon M. Chu insisted on having the most important locations such as Munchkinland, Glizz University and Emerald City actually recreated as sets on a considerable scale and with an inspiring level of detail. Of course, green screens are still used, but significantly less than in comparable fantasy blockbuster productions – and so “Wicked” always amazes, with the opulent costumes by Oscar-nominated designer Paul Tazewell (“West Side Story”) are not even included. “Wicked” is an absolute spectacle on the theater stage, and Jon M. Chu sets exactly the right priorities in order to avoid losing any of this undeniable wow factor on the big screen.
You'd think Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) would be best friends. But fate has a much more tragic connection in store for them…
The biggest trump card of “Wicked” remains the cast – and above all the two leading actresses: Ariana Grande, herself a celebrated pop star with more than 375 million Instagram followers and her own beauty empire, dances along with her steps as if she were walking on clouds the scenery – a wonderful self-ironic performance in pink, garnished with spoiled, naive dialogue quips like: “Something is very wrong. I didn't get my way.” She masters the fine line of despising and pitying her in equal measure, so that in her cautiously budding friendship with Elphaba, you still keep your fingers crossed that she might yet get out of her skin that only strives for constant admiration comes out. Meanwhile, the two-time Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”) lets her character’s anger, but also her unwavering sense of justice, shine through despite her green make-up.
As in the first act of the musical, the rapprochement between the two culminates in the goosebumps song “Defying Gravity” / “Free and weightless”, which also indicates the big break – a really nasty cliffhanger when you consider that you don't just have a 15 -minute break in the theater, but has to wait almost a whole year for the sequel. But there is a lot to be said – above all, of course, the quality of the first part – that the long perseverance is worth it: Similar to the later “Harry Potter” stories, dark abysses lurk beneath all the magical colors of the fantastic world of Oz. The mob repeatedly becomes an abused and remote-controlled mass – a blatant but effective propaganda parable that hits the mark with its social criticism and is also emotionally stirring. In “Wicked” a lot of this is only (obviously) hinted at at first, but those familiar with the musical know that the second half very much lives up to what the first act promises in this respect…
Conclusion: “Wicked” is as good as “Cats” was bad! The two leading actresses who harmonize outstandingly and the magnificent production values including opulent musical numbers make the screen adaptation of the Broadway mega-hit an absolute must-see (at least for everyone who doesn't instinctively run away from the theater at the first word sung).