Film Review: Wicked (2024)

Just something a little different today – I don’t feel like I’ve done a film review outside of Blogtober/Blogmas for a good long while, or any not-book reviews really, but this blog was always intended to be a space for all things I wanted to review, not just books, so I’m hoping to expand a bit more what I’m actually reviewing, especially in the new year.

For all those who may have missed all the hype and have no idea about the latest movie musical to hit the big screen, Wicked is the untold story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. The movie is adapted from the stage musical which is adapted from the book by Gregory Maguire, inspired by the original Oz books. Now, I’ve read the book a few times (and love it), and I’ve seen Wicked on stage, though that was about a decade ago now, so I was very excited to see how it would transfer to the big screen.

Initially, I was hesitant – like, I expect, many – about the runtime. Part 1 has a longer runtime than the whole musical. However, I think it’s served the film really well, and splitting it means it doesn’t feel rushed. It allows for transition scenes and a little more of the characters between songs, and the film didn’t feel like it was almost three hours when watching it.

The performances were fantastic. The singing was incredible and I’ve been loving listening to the soundtrack. The film gives itself more room to breathe, allowing for songs to be lengthened, especially where there are key moments happening, stretching them out so you get these moments within the songs where you can really feel the characters connecting.

And Jonathan Bailey really has way too much charisma to be contained in one human body, I swear.

I did have misgivings about the film, and one day I would absolutely love to see a faithful book adaptation with all the darker stuff contained there, but I think the film did an excellent job with the musical and really made it an enjoyable, wonderful big screen experience. I just hope it leads to other musicals being adapted for screen, and maybe actually advertising themselves as musicals rather than hiding the fact.