Movie review: 'Wicked' is designed to wow and wow again

That’s the overriding feeling you get watching “Wicked,” the overstuffed adaptation of the hit Broadway music.

Produced with attention to every detail, it should please fans who have been waiting decades for a film version. Instead of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, director Jon Cho offers up Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The former takes Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, into a darker direction than Menzel but Grande does such exacting work she could win Best Performance as a Chenoweth. She has a couple of her own contributions but, for the most part, you get what Broadway saw – a Glinda the Good Witch who’s self-absorbed and clueless as to her friend’s needs.

The two are students at Shiz University (remember, this is before Dorothy dropped in) and they’re just trying to find their places. Glinda, naturally, thinks she’s at the top of the pecking order while Elphaba doesn’t want to stand out. Unfortunately, she’s the only green girl in school, which makes it difficult to blend. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), the school’s headmistress, has Elphie pegged for bigger things but, first, there’s the matter of ridding the school of animal professors (sound familiar?). Elphaba takes a liking to Professor Dillamond (Peter Dinklage), a goat, and, soon, she’s witnessing the treatment he’s given because he doesn’t fit in. A trip to see the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) could be just the ticket to right the wrongs in the fantasyland.

And what a fantasyland! Designer Nathan Crowley has created such an amazing playground it’s impossible to look away. When “Dancing Through Life” brings the cast into a library, it isn’t just another “Music Man” book toss. Here, walls move like a fun house tunnel. Jonathan Bailey (as love interest Fiyero) glides around the moving set, making it seem like a real character. Other physical elements (like the train Glinda and Elphie take to Oz) are incredible, marrying “The Wizard of Oz” to a new world of entertainment. While everyone goes a little heavy on the pink and green, the design (of everything from the Yellow Brick Road to Oz’s headquarters) bubbles with creativity. There are ties to the original movie and interpretations that make this much more layered than Broadway fans thought it could be.

Songs – many of them sing-along worthy – get plenty of attention, complete with complex choreography and a cast of hundreds. In one bit, the OG “Wicked” stars turn up and it’s a neat take on the gossip that swirled around the stage production.

The crux of “Wicked,” however, is the relationship between the two women and it works beautifully. Erivo is an open, heart-led actress who conveys Elphaba’s pain without embroidering it on her sleeve. Grande is more open, but not in a showy way. She plays quiet well and has those touching duets that make the friendship supportive, not competitive.

Divided into two parts (you’ll get the ending NEXT year), “Wicked” more than fills its nearly three-hour running time. It doesn’t seem padded but one or two less production numbers might have gotten it into a more user-friendly space. (It also seems very “Harry Potter” adjacent, but that’s for fans of both to decide.)

While some of “Wicked’s” biggest secrets aren’t revealed in the first half, they make the second worth anticipating. Yeoh and Bailey are just getting started here. Ethan Slater (as Boq) and Marissa Bode (as Elphaba’s paraplegic younger sister) have big story arcs in the future.

Now, though, enjoy all that Cho has concocted. Like those great musical directors of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, he knows how to splash a story on screen and isn’t afraid to try a little more.

As a result, “Wicked” is gonna be popular.