Review: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande soar in ‘Wicked’ film adaptation

SEATTLE – Like a broomstick hurtling from the sky, here comes the “Wicked” movie (or, rather, the first installment of the “Wicked” movies; the second comes next year) – and oh, I’m still catching my breath, in a very good way. Jon M. Chu’s film of the hit Broadway musical set in the world of “The Wizard of Oz” is an absolute thrill: wonderfully cast, beautifully sung, dazzlingly designed and costumed. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande – an actor who sings like a dream, and a singer with the comic timing of an old-school screwball comedian – are a powerhouse duo in the two central roles: Elphaba, the green-skinned witch who struggles to understand and control her powers, and Glinda, the fairy-like sorceress who becomes her unlikely roommate during their time at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. The two ride a magic roller coaster of friendship and sisterhood – and we ride it with them, thoroughly besotted. You might find your footsteps defying gravity on the way out the multiplex door.

Not all blockbuster Broadway musicals are perfect fodder for films – let us not discuss the unintentionally hilarious debacles of “Rent” and “Cats.” But “Wicked,” whose roots lie not just in Gregory Maguire’s novel but in the beloved 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” already feels thoroughly cinematic, and Chu pays charming tribute to that throughout this film. The title font recalls that of the Judy Garland movie, Elphaba at one point pedals a bicycle just like that rode by Miss Gulch, and the Emerald City looks just like it did in our childhood dreams, only more so (did I spy chickens wearing tiny green top hats? I think I did!). And this magic musical seems made for film, full of gloriously elaborate sets – can I please move into that dorm room, or at least borrow a few pieces from Glinda’s mountain of pink luggage? – and action sequences that a stage production can’t duplicate.

And a movie lets you see the performances up close, to enjoy the seeming ad-libs from Bowen Yang as Glinda’s friend Pfannee (“Love the shoulder pads!” he chirps, unconvincingly, to Elphaba), the hilarious smoldering of Jonathan Bailey’s handsome Fiyero, the way Michelle Yeoh’s Madame Morrible seems absolutely capable of ordering a group of fearsome-looking winged monkeys into submission. Grande’s performance is full of funny detail; this Glinda has quite possibly watched “Legally Blonde” (I could swear she does the bend-and-snap), and has a giggle that sounds like the prettiest of bubbles. Erivo makes Elphaba’s songs – “The Wizard and I,” “I’m Not That Girl,” “Defying Gravity” (the latter with Grande, their voices soaring like eagles) – into haunting stories, letting her voice drop into the tiniest of whispers before letting it fly to the heavens. The two create a lovely chemistry; even when Glinda and Elphaba hate each other, or at least say they do, there’s still a complicated sisterhood that’s fascinating to watch.

All that, plus a couple of blissful cameos I won’t spoil, and some truly excellent hair-flipping. Yes, it’s far longer than the stage show while nonetheless being quite faithful to it, but I barely noticed the time passing. If this “Wicked” is just one teeny step short of perfect – the CGI, particularly earlier in the film, sometimes seems a bit artificial, and there’s at least one dance sequence that goes on a bit too long (said by one who loves dance sequences) – well, that just gives a little space for “Wicked: Part Two,” coming next November, to shine somehow even brighter. Bring it on, I can’t wait.