Wicked: Part 1 Movie Review: Fascinating subversion of good vs evil tale

It was not hard to guess the plot of Wicked Part 1, the origin story of the 1939 fantasy The Wizard of Oz, when director Jon M Chu revealed that the film would capture the rebellious nature of the youth of today. But with the universally twisted notion of the wise and the wicked, the film manages to keep us engaged throughout its almost three-hour runtime.

The film begins with the enrolment in the wizard college Shiz University in Oz, where we are shown a deeply hurt yet self-assured Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), who is treated like an outcast for her green complexion but later equally feared for her special powers. She arrives only to enrol her paraplegic younger sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), but as fate or chance would have it, she joins college. She is joined by a ditsy and a validation-hungry Galinda/Glinda (Ariana Grande). Without caring much about getting excluded by her peers, Elphaba gets immersed in mastering witchcraft and joining the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum). Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices Elphaba's powers and starts giving special attention to her. A determined Elphaba gives her full focus to her studies, thinking that her mastery in witchcraft will remove the stigma on her, naive about the hideous plans the college is plotting, with her in the centre.

With Wicked Part 1, Jon M Chu has taken up the task of redefining the notions of the evil witch and a good fairy princess. What works the most in the film is its shock value. Subsequent to the decades-long celebration of the noble Glinda the Good Witch of the North, who helps an innocent small girl, Dorothy Gale, the film throws a curious question: What if Glinda is not as good as you've been assuming all the years?" The second most enjoyable aspect of the film is its music and songs. Elphaba's 'The Wizard and I' and Glinda's 'Popular'  effectively revealed their respective characteristics without wasting much time with exposition. The lyrics of both songs uncover the deepest thoughts, beliefs, and fears of both characters.

Director: Jon M Chu

Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum

Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jonathan Bailey (playing Fiyero Tigelaar) looked perfect in their roles. Ariana's Glinda Upland, earning our detestation, is a well-written character with organic situations that get her speciousness exposed. Her becoming friends with Elphaba, changing her name from Glinda to Galinda, and diverting Boq Woodsman (Ethan Slater)'s attention towards Nessa, as though doing him a favour, but clearing her path to pursue Fiyero doesn't just unravel her facade of goodness but also indicates the extents that she will go to keep her popularity intact. The devil-may-care attitude of Elphaba, carried by a confident Cynthia, is a major positive of the role. We really root for her during her rare moments of weakness and fear. An otherwise sure-footed witch-to-be, Elphaba, when she tries to keep herself orientated amidst being treated with disdain, makes her endearing to us. Her bid to prevent these negative emotions from breaking her assertive demeanour is ably amplified through the number 'I'm Not That Girl'. Despite the minimal screen time of Fiyero in the first part, his being ashamed after Elphaba makes an assessment that his cheerfulness is a pretence makes us excited to see where his malleability takes him in the second part of the prequel.

Some strong lines have worked in favour of the film. Take, for instance, Fiyero asking Elphaba why she always causes commotion, to which she responds, 'I am the commotion', Glinda airing her concern about Tiyero beginning to think, and the Wizard of Oz justifying the purgation of animals from the campus, saying, "The real good way to bring folks together is to give a real enemy." These lines were not just momentarily powerful but also underlined the film's themes of prejudice, acceptance, injustice, and the nature of good and evil.

All these positives aside, the film, in its pursuit to upend notions of good and evil, proposes simplistic notions of morality, which renders it somewhat confusing. Even though it is a fairytale, there is nothing substantial to take away from it. With that alone being a noticeable downside, Wicked Part 1 is an exhilarating watch for its smart plotline, theme-based musical numbers, and some brilliant casting choices.