One of the biggest commercial hits of 2024 was Jon M. Chu’s Wicked, a film adaptation of a stage musical adaptation of author Gregory Maguire’s alternate universe Wizard of Oz fan fiction. Having not read Maguire’s novel nor seen the musical I did not rush to see the feature film version, but with it now available to watch at home I figured it was worth having a look at what all of the fuss has been about. My immediate reaction is one of frustration: there is a lot of good in Wicked, but it also has a lot of unnecessary problems.

The film explores a revisionist take on L. Frank Baum’s beloved children’s novel – one in which the Wicked Witch of the West is wrongly maligned, Glinda the Good Witch is a vain and self-centred ingenue, and the titular wizard is actually the villain of the piece. It principally follows Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda (Ariana Grande), two students at the magical Shiz University in the land of Oz: how they meet, eventually become friends, and subsequently uncover a conspiracy against the talking animals of Oz.

The story, quite honestly, is weak. What is worse, a commercial decision to split the film adaptation into two parts results in an enormous amount of padding. The film adapts the first act of the musical, but does so stretched to more than two hours and forty minutes in length. As a result, what story there is feels remarkably dull. The college setting also lends the film, rightfully or otherwise, to comparisons with Harry Potter and High School Musical. The film ends on an interesting note, but expects the audience to wait a full year to reach that material.

A weak foundation is, frankly, ameliorated by its cast, music, and particularly its colourful design work. Erivo and Grande are quite rightly being praised for their performances and chemistry together. They are wonderfully entertaining to watch, each boasting remarkable skills in both drama and comedy. Both are hugely talented singers, and make the most of the film’s musical numbers. Given the film’s split, however, it is unavoidable that half of the musical’s songs have been left for the sequel.

Jon M. Chu’s direction, as well as Alice Brooks’ photography, struggles to capture the dance elements of the film. It is a common problem with contemporary Hollywood musicals, which seem compelled to move the camera to generate momentum rather than let the choreography do its work. There is also a surfeit of computer-generated imagery through the film, which seems more excusable given the fantasy setting.

Wicked also arrived in cinema amid a small wave of revisionist adaptations and spin-offs. The redemption of Elphaba’s character is a core purpose for Wicked dating back to the novel in 1995, so it is perhaps unfortunate that the film arrived in cinemas so close to prequels re-imagining The Lion King‘s Scar and Transformers‘ Megatron. It seems like no one is allowed to simply be evil in children’s entertainment any more.

When Wicked allows itself to present spirited musical numbers with energy and talented, it is hugely enjoyable stuff. Ultimately it is a curate’s egg, forcing the viewer to pick through a lot of moribund filler to enjoy the good parts. Pre-existing fans of the stage version will likely get a lot more out of it than new viewers. With any luck, a shorter and more urgently paced second part will be a lot better.