The classic stage musical Wicked has arrived in theaters with a part one. Part two will come next year. When I first saw the trailer for this film, I was not very impressed. However, after seeing this, I can comfortably say that this is one of the best movies of the year.

According to IMDB, “Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a misunderstood young woman because of her green skin, and Glinda (Ariana Grande), a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), their friendship reaches a crossroads.”

There is so much great about this movie. I’ll star with the performances of the two leading ladies, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who were both sensational. I would venture to guess that both Erivo and Grande will receive Oscar nominations for this movie. They absolutely shine on the screen. Erivo looks awesome in her green makeup and Ariana Grande proved that she was a better actress than anyone every thought she was. And the two of them had amazing chemistry with each other and it worked so well.

Both of them were amazing with the music too. You would expect Grande to knock the music out of the park, but Cynthia Erivo matched her with every note and her performance of “Defying Gravity” is goosebump inducing.

Though we did not see much of him, Jeff Goldblum was excellent as the Wizard of Oz and it was cool to see Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible too.

The movie is gorgeous. The cinematography is next level and the colors are great. Much like other versions of Oz, the colors are an important aspect for the land.

I loved the world building going on here too. Everything made sense and it did not feel that anything was forced. The writing was epic and told this adaptation well.

I do think that the movie is a little long. Some of the first act could have been trimmed to make things work a little better. The third act though was exceptional. I knew where the end of the film was coming so the big “TO BE CONTINUED” popping up on the screen did not bother me. It felt like a perfect place to stop. I know some people may not be happy about a film that is a part one.

I did not ever see the stage show and I was very limited with the music too, but I thought the film does a great job creating a world that I want to keep watching. It was an epic film and director Jon Chu really did a fantastic job. It is one of the best movies of the year.

4.8 stars