Wicked

A chickenshit adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s bold novel, further hampered by its scant number of memorable songs, the Wicked stage musical inherently puts any faithful cinematic version at an automatic disadvantage.

By bringing back the show's writer, Winnie Holzman, to co-author the feature film screenplay, Universal Pictures doubles down on that compromised (albeit extremely popular) vision. But despite being hamstrung on the narrative front, director Jon M. Chu (In the Heights; Crazy Rich Asians) recognizes the potential of telling this story on the big screen and does what he can to maximize the medium's possibilities.

Clocking in at just under the length of the entire source musical yet only bringing the story to the end of Act I, Wicked doesn't come close to warranting its bloated, 2.5-hour runtime. Rather than attempt some streamlining, more excess is added to the already overstuffed look back from Glinda the Good (a bubbly Ariana Grande-Butera) at how her former Shiz University roommate Elphaba (an overly reserved Cynthia Erivo, Widows) became The Wicked Witch of the West.

As is the case with the show, the production design, costumes, makeup, and other technical details are impressive, and Chu augments them with several sweeping camera moves and a wealth of special effects that far more enhance the proceedings than hinder them.

Being a movie and not a unique theatrical performance, this Wicked also lends itself to fun cameos from some original cast members and more imaginative renderings of production numbers than can be achieved on the stage.

However, with the exception of “Popular” and “Defying Gravity,” Stephen Schwartz’s tunes remain mediocre — part of a slavish devotion to the Tony-winning sensation that discourages significant revisions within the material or freedom within the performances.

The major exception is Jeff Goldblum’s very Jeff Goldblummy interpretation of the Wizard of Oz, though the sight of his lovable mug carved into a rock face at Shiz proves as awkward and cringe-inducing as anything in the script.

So, no, not even one of our most beloved performers can truly rise above the mediocrity — and Michelle Yeoh fares far worse as Shiz professor Madame Morrible — but no one involved seems to care as long as the die-hard fanbase is pleased. Otherwise, the timid script might actually commit to its intriguing political elements instead of merely teasing its metaphorically rich subplot of animals being stripped of their rights and misinformation being spread in the name of “national unity.”

In turn, Wicked plays like a Sesame Street episode about equality, civil rights, and standing up to evil. But hey, if this is how people learn that fascism is bad (and their dollars help green-light more musicals), so be it.

Grade: C-minus. Rated PG. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Universal Pictures)