“Wicked”, which is actually based on the first half of the popular Broadway musical of the same name, is as colorful and spirited as expected. While this is your average bloated musical film, it is thankfully buoyed by the good efforts shown and felt from the screen, and you may not mind waiting for a year to see how the story eventually ends.

The aforementioned Broadway musical is based on the novel of the same named by Gregory Maquire, which is a revisionist take on the 1900 fantasy novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. Maquire’s book presents the Wicked Witch of the West as a sympathetic protagonist who was actually not evil at all in the beginning, and that is certainly interesting for anyone who enjoyed Baum’s book or the 1939 classic movie “The Wizard of Oz”, which immortalizes the Wicked Witch of the West as one of the greatest (and scariest) movie villains of all time.

After the opening part showing what happens not along after the news on the death of the Wicked Witch of the West is spread all around Oz, the story begins at a prestigious school where many different students including Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande), a young popular girl who sometimes looks like sort of a cross between Reese Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde” (2001) and Rachel McAdams in “Mean Girls” (2004), are about to begin their first day at the school. As you can easily guess, she is the one who will be subsequently known as Glinda the Good Witch of the North, and it goes without saying that she is quite eager to study magic under Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), who is incidentally the Headmistress of the school.

However, Madame Morrible does not regard Galinda that highly, and she actually pays more attention to a green-skinned girl named Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), who will be later known as, yes, the Wicked Witch of the West. Although Elphaba is not officially a student as simply accompanying her disabled younger sister as demanded by her father, she happens to show her very special ability in front of others in the school, and Madame Morrible willingly takes her under her tutelage for a purpose to be revealed later in the story.

Anyway, Galinda is instructed to share her big and pinky dormitory room with Elphaba, and she is surely not amused at all, but, what do you know, she and Elphaba become closer to each other as getting to know each other during next several months. While she is still your average popular schoolgirl usually more occupied with having all the fun and excitement, Galinda comes to care more about her lonely and unhappy roommate, and Elphaba appreciates more of Galinda’s friendship especially after Galinda willingly comes forward to take care of what is going to be another humiliating moment for her roommate.

As these two different young ladies befriend each other more along the story, the movie throws a series of the original songs from the Broadway musical, and most of them are presented well on the screen. Director Jon M. Chu, who is no stranger to musical film considering his previous movie “In the Heights” (2021), and his crew members including cinematographer Alice Brooks and editor Myron Kerstein did a good job of handling a number of big musical scenes with enough spirit and skill, and production designer Nathan Crowley and costume designer Paul Tazewell, both of whom may get Oscar-nominated early in next year, surely have a field day here as filling the screen with many lively colorful details to be appreciated.

Meanwhile, the movie also tries to generate more gravitas via the increasing discrimination against talking animal characters including the one voiced by Peter Dinklage. Although this more serious subplot is not totally mixed well with the cheery overall mood of the movie, it is still a crucial part resonating with Elphaba’s longtime experience of discrimination, and we are not so surprised when she becomes quite furious after learning of what has actually been perpetrated behind all the deceptions of that great wizard of Oz.

Around the last act, the movie feels a bit overlong with a lot of CGI spectacles, but it is still held together well thanks to not only Chu’s competent direction but also the two good musical performances by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Because both of them are well-experienced singers, they deftly and effortlessly convey to us every emotional detail of their songs without any misstep, and they always click well with each other whenever they share the screen together. While Erivo surely pulls all the stops when she confidently sings “The Wizard and I” early in the film, Grande is equally terrific when she performs “Popular”, and they ably support the film together even when it feels rather lagging during the middle part.

In case of the supporting performers in the film, they dutifully fill the spot around Erivo and Grande. Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum are dependable as usual while demonstrating a bit of their respective singing skills, and Jonathan Bailey does more than being your typical Prince Charming in the story. In addition, there is also a witty cameo appearance by someone I will not reveal here for not spoiling any of your surprise fun.

On the whole, “Wicked” inherently feels incomplete as the first half of the story to be continued besides being rather overstuffed, but it is still a solid piece of entertainment to be enjoyed by many musical fans out there. Yes, it is not as great as “The Wizard of Oz” in my trivial opinion, but it has a fair share of charm and energy, so I will not grumble for now.