If you’re a fan of Broadway musicals, Ariana Grande, or just a good story, “Wicked” is a movie you don’t want to miss. Based on the stage musical by Stephen Schwartz, which is based on Gregory Maquire’s book, “Wicked” takes us into the land of Oz, but in a different way than L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz.

The movie tells the hidden story of the witches of Oz, specifically the “Wicked Witch of the West,” Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda the Good Witch (played by Ariana Grande), two very different characters who meet in school. 

Elphaba, born green, arrives at the story’s school, Shiz, and is portrayed as smart, passionate, and a bit of an outcast. Glinda is a very “popular” girl with a bubbly, attention-grabbing personality and a closet full of pink. 

Despite their “loathing” of each other initially, the two girls form a friendship, defying the relationship we all thought they would have from the original story, “The Wizard of Oz.” But as Glinda says, “Pink goes good with green.”

The production of the movie is very impressive, from set design to costume design–and after the years of planning that the movie took before it started, that’s a good thing. The special effects, especially surrounding the use of magic in the film, are impressive, along with the work the team did to truly make Cynthia Erivo appear green. 

The set design did, however, try to remain as true as possible to the stage production, with Elphaba’s green skin, a massive green train, the Emerald City, and a huge field of tulips all being real. The movie’s look resembles what you would see in a storybook or dream.

Truly, the heart of “Wicked” is the music. Songs such as “Popular” or “What is This Feeling?” are huge hits, along with the famous “Defying Gravity.” The choreography is well-planned and complements the music perfectly. Every song adds something to the plot. 

Erivo and Grande do a wonderful job of bringing their characters to life, and it truly seems like they melted their own personalities into them.

If you want to see “Wicked,” make sure that you are ready for the two hours and forty minutes that it plays. And if you haven’t seen the play or read the book before, be warned: it will leave you on a cliffhanger. Why? Because the nearly three-hour movie is only part one of the two-part film adaptation of the Broadway play. The second part is scheduled to come out in November 2025.

Overall, “Wicked” is a great movie with a great cast (Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, etc.), and it will leave you thinking about it long after you leave the theater. 

So, if you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you find the time. After all, “No One Mourns the Wicked” movie!

Rating: 4/5