Wicked: Part 1 - A Review!
It’s so nice to finally know what Wicked is!
Keep reaching, cause that’s all you two will be doing.
I’ve had 20 years of people trying to explain Wicked to me. Even now, if you bring it up, people will show their love by telling you how many times they've seen the play live. Typically they've been women friends. Sometimes it was my queer friends. Today, it was lots of people at the Alamo Drafthouse where I watch all of my movies. It got to a point where nearly every person I knew understood what Wicked was save for the most important person in my life... myself. Thanks to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, I finally answered the question, "What is Wicked?"
Fortunately for me, they finally made a movie based on the play based on The Wizard of Oz (1939) based on the books by L. Frank Baum written in the long long ago of 1900. The entire world has been remixing Dorothy on a trip in a fantasy world going to see the Wizard for generations. I saw The Wizard of Oz (1939) in elementary school. I saw it again in high school. I know all about the Wizard having no powers and proving that everyone already had what it took and kind of doing nothing for no one. I know about all the bodies Dorothy left in her wake. During a boring Saturday in Jr. High, I remember trying to watch Return to Oz (1985) and it was too freaky to finish. The Wizard of Oz as an idea has been around for over 100 years. Hell, maybe we should write our own story since it's in the public domain. We couldn't make a movie unless we're cool with getting sued. Funny how that works.
At its core, Wicked (2024) is a film about a group of would-be witches becoming roommates in college and later "best" friends. Once you get to know the leads, the idea that Galinda (The Good Witch) and Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) could ever be true friends is laughable. Lucky for us, we don't watch musicals for how close they are to reality. We watch them cause we love all the singing and dancing! Wicked (2024) has that in spades.
The spoiler-free breakdown.
The hottest wickedist witch worldwide.
Wicked begins at the end of The Wizard of Oz (1939). Ding Dong, the Witch is dead due to Dorothy and a cup of water, and the munchkins want to sing about it. You even get a short scene of Dorothy and her crew skipping on the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. Galinda (Ariana Grande) floats down to Munchkinland in a bubble contraption and everyone sings a beautiful song while burning an effigy of the Elphaba. That shit is dark...
Galinda is... how Galinda always is. She's a pretty, blonde white-passing woman with magical powers who refuses to help Dorothy and her friends beyond swapping out shoes. You get the impression she doesn't want to celebrate, but Galinda has an empire to continue colonizing, so here we are. Just before she gets to leave, a little girl asks her how someone becomes “wicked.” We typically agree that no one starts life that way. Galinda thinks this question needs an answer before she bubbles away.
Flashback #1:
The Governor of Munchkinland (Andy Nyman) is going away for a night on a business trip. He tells his wife, Mrs. Thropp (Courtney Mae-Briggs) that he loves her and they seem so happy together. The second he leaves, she opens another door and another man strolls in. They drink and have a private lil party of their own. (Wooooo!)
I don’t know why, but my IMPRESSION is that that terrible cheater was the Wizard himself, but that’s neither here nor there. Next, you see that Mrs. Thropp is pregnant and in the midst of labor. she's having a baby and when that baby comes out... let's just say she's the WRONG color. (Oh noooo!)
That baby is young Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo). She's a cute green bundle of joy with an adorable little afro. Governor Thropp is PISSED. How could his genes and his wife make such an awkward green baby? This child is too different! She must never know peace! Good for him he's rich enough to let the nanny, Dulcibear (Sharon D. Clarke) do all the child rearing. This is after Elphaba goes from the womb to the boom and makes everything in the room fly up to the ceiling! (Whooooaaa)
Despite a hateful father (figure) Elphaba grows into a sweet little girl who takes care of her sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode). Sometimes Elphaba gets so angry at the kids making fun of Nessarose’s wheelchair and her green skin that her powers spiral out of control and rocks get thrown at dastardly munchkins. When that happens, Governor Thropp rushes out yells at Elphaba, and babies his properly colored child. Elphaba grows up thinking her greenness, her sister being in a wheelchair, and her mother's eventual death are all her fault. It's a horrible way to grow up.
Flash forward to Galinda trying to get out of Munchkinland.
After that explanation, Galinda wastes no time getting that bubble up and trying to leave. However, there's one more question from an older girl who pushes her way to the front of the crowd and asks (or accuses) Galinda of being friends with Elphaba. Galinda doesn't want to lie so she says she and Elphaba "crossed paths" at one point in the past.
That lighting and broken window means Gravity is about to get Defied.
Flashback #2:
We flashback to the first day of college. Galinda and Nessarose are going away while Elphaba accompanies her sister along with Governor Thropp. He still hates Elphaba and babies Nessarose due to her being in a wheelchair. This is also the first time Elphaba and Galinda and her "performative activism" meet for the first time and thanks to an incident in which Elphaba accidentally uses her powers she impresses powerful people and gets and gets admitted to sorcery class and becomes Galinda's roommate. From the jump, Galinda and Elphaba hate each other. This is where Wicked (2024) truly begins.
Part 1 of Wicked (2024) anyway...
Should I Watch Wicked?
Honestly, you already know if you're going to go see Wicked. In fact, you've probably seen it before me! So let me speak to anyone who's on the edge:
Absolutely! Go see Wicked!
Here's why:
You want to learn about what Wicked IS (like I did) and can finally learn by watching the movie version of an extremely popular play.
You've enjoyed many of the other versions of "Going to see the Wizard," managed to overcome your fear and finish the 1985 film starring Fairuza Balk (Nancy from The Craft or the girl who showed her boobs to Bobby Boucher in The Waterboy)
If you loved The Wiz (1978) because Diana Ross and Michael Jackson were in it.
You want to try the new dishes the Alamo Drafthouse puts out and get one of those Wicked holiday cups they're dropping for $25. The film version of Wicked (2024) is an event and theaters are daring us to remember it forever.
If you’re not serious about musicals but want to enjoy something fun and fantasy-filled to take your mind off all the misery for a while.
That’s a Wicked hat you got from Galinda’s gram gram.
I had a great time watching Wicked (2024). My only real complaint is that this is Part 1 of the story. That kind of bothered me. I thought this first movie would be the whole thing. None of the marketing I saw pointed to parts and the story felt complete. However, I still have not seen any of the plays, but plays tend to be longer than musicals and have intermissions. If you're going to spend a night at the theatre, put some money down and wear your finest clothes, you want a satisfying experience.
So if you're unsure, take a chance. Go watch a musical. Open your heart a little bit. I wouldn't wait for the sequel to come out either, because the Drafthouse employees told me that wouldn't happen until November 2025. I don't have that kind of patience and this movie was a blast, but you are welcome to make your choice about that.
Ultimately... I'm just happy to finally understand what musical fans have been telling me for 20 years. The music is amazing. The dancing is inventive. Wicked (2024) is a breath of fresh air in one of the most drab and difficult years I've ever experienced. This movie pushed all that out of my head for a bit and I'll always be appreciative of that.
As always, choose your own adventure. Seeing Wicked: Part 1 is a great way to spend time as this will be all people talk about during the holiday season. Well... all many women and queer people will be talking about this holiday season. I think us straights should join in!
There are spoken versions of my Reviews on TikTok now!
Also, check out my musical legacy with Mike Dynamo & Supercrime, and as always:
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