Wicked - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

So… I’m not a fan of musicals. I have a few that I greatly enjoy and some true favorites, but as I have mentioned in past reviews, I have a hard time getting over the relentless barrage of songs. Why sing when a simple quick conversation would suffice? Does every little tiny emotion need a 4-minute tune with flashy dancing and staging? Maybe not, but if the musical is good, that doesn’t really matter, does it? However, what if your musical is so good that it can’t be contained in a single film? Is it best to try and condense it down, and keep to the source material without any embellishment? Or is it better to split the project into two for a staggering combined runtime? Evidently, director Jon M. Chu and the team behind Wicked chose the latter. 

Our story is one of friendship… or rather two people who used to be friends. We all know the story of Dorothy, the Ruby Slippers, and the splashingly wet demise of the Wicked Witch of the West. But what happened before that? There was a time when the WWW was known as Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and she was a student alongside Glinda (Ariana Grande) at Shiz University in the merry old land of Oz. There was a time when Glinda and Elphaba were rivals, but most importantly there was a time when they were the best of friends on a grand adventure to meet the Wonderful Wizard of OZ (Jeff Goldblum). But not everything in Oz is as it seems and as alliances are forged the bonds of friendship will be stressed. 

To put things simply, I liked Wicked but I didn’t love it. I wasn’t bothered by the songs or the need to stop all forward narrative momentum for a little dance number. Actually, those moments of musical wonder and stylish dance moves my middle-aged body could never perform was a welcome reprieve. What bothered me was the padding. The kind of excessive flabby padding I wish my midsection didn’t have. It just slowed everything down to a crawl. Given this film is pulling elements from the Gregory Maguire novel to fill in some of the stage musical story gaps and make it more cinematic, I expected this to be a bit long. I was even okay with the film being split into two parts because it’s a sprawling storyline spanning years involving talking animals, political dissent, and discrimination. But the excess padding for Wicked Part One is well, excessive. 

At two hours and forty minutes, this is a frustratingly long film. Again, I understand the need to adapt the musical into a cinematic spectacle (and there’s plenty of spectacle) but it suffers from a stutteringly languid pace. The first hour is a dreadful slog taking ages to tell story elements that could have passed in half that time or less. Do we need to be repeatedly reminded Elphaba isn’t loved by her father or the rest of the students at Shiz? Probably not. Nor do we need multiple songs dedicated to reiterating that fact. Show it or tell it. Show it or sing it. But don’t show, tell, and sing it! 

Thankfully once that first hour or so passes and all of the excessive setup is out of the way, Wicked the film finally finds its footing. The last 90-ish minutes are actually quite a thrill, and I say that as someone who isn’t a massive fan of musicals and/or of The Wizard of Oz. I have no dog in this fight when I admit I did ultimately enjoy the final push toward this story’s midway point. I'm just not sure I enjoyed it enough to hit the theater in November to get the last half. 

All credit to the cast for bringing this story to life. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo share a genuine almost sisterly chemistry on screen. Given the plot, it’s essential this casting worked out. Cynthia Erivo is especially magnetic as Elphaba and carries the heart and soul of the story. Ariana Grande is a fine Glinda and plays up the prissy “Ms. Perfect” role very well. Michelle Yeoh is delightful as the conniving Madame Morrible. And I have to give credit to Goldblum for his turn as the Wizard nicely playing into his brand of eccentric performance and his natural musicality. And despite the clunky, chunky first hour, Jon M. Chu delivered a big colorful spectacle of a musical. At least half of one anyway. 

So I didn’t hate this first part of Wicked. I was in fact, entertained. But I didn’t love it. I can’t fully recommend it to casual musical fans or even those who love the original Wizard of Oz because it’s a very different piece of work. This film was aimed at the die-hard fans of the musical and novel series and given the box office haul, it delivered for those folks. Now we have to wait until November to find out if splitting it into two films and doubling the stage show’s runtime to nearly six hours was actually worth it. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Wicked flies with the monkeys for a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital release from Universal. Pressed on a BD100 disc with a BD50 disc serving up 1080p and bonus features, the discs are housed in a standard case with identical slipcover. Each disc loads to a standard main menu with basic navigation options and the bonus features listed along the right side of the screen. Pressing “play” you’re given the option of watching the Theatrical experience or the Sing-Along Version. I did not play the sing-along version. I do not sing.

Big sets, loud colors, and amazing costumes, Wicked is practically made to be seen in 4K with an excellent Dolby Vision transfer. I would have rather seen it in 3D given the staging, but that's just me. I did think some of the CGI effects and some of the scenery extensions were a bit obvious and fake-looking, but the majority of the image is delightfully beautiful in 2160p. Facial features, incredible make-up work, and hairstyling, the practical sets get the full experience on disc. Even some of the CGI animal characters like Peter Dinklage’s Dr. Dillamond looked impressive under high-resolution scrutiny. With Dolby Vision HDR, the colors pop beautifully. Reds, Blues, and a certain Yellow brick road are given their due. Even greens shine nicely. Black levels are excellent lending to a terrific sense of depth. Again my only real gripe is that it can be pretty obvious when the practical sets stop and the CGI scenery extensions start. But if you’re paying attention to that kind of thing, you’re not really paying attention to the movie. I imagine most fans out there won’t care about any of those sorts of shortcomings when everything that is up front and in your face is done so well.

And not to be too surprised, Wicked casts a wonderful spell on Atmos. From the first moments recounting the final moments of the Wicked Witch’s demise and the monkeys taking flight, this is a loud boisterous audio track that really likes to play on a big stage. I guess that’s what Atmos is for, right? Overheads see some modest effect-specific action, namely whenever Elphaba uses her powers, but the whole soundscape is very active and immersive. Dialog is cleanly rendered and prioritized. Key dialog rests in the front/center channels but quiet snickering comments sit nicely in the sides. Musical numbers are a full-swing experience using all of those channels to great effect. LFE is appreciable throughout. Maybe not the heaviest rumble in the subs, but for key impact sounds and a big green train, it’s a nice touch to the sound design.

Say what you will about Wicked - love it, hate it, or lament it being split into two films - I have to give credit where credit is due for a genuinely impressive set of bonus features. On top of two active and informative audio commentaries with director Jon M. Chu and another with our two leading ladies, there’s a fantastic 45-minute making-of documentary that really gets into the nitty-gritty details of bringing the musical to life. The amount of practical work, including the giant Wizard head is truly impressive. Wildly enough, there are over 15-minutes of deleted/extended scenes! Just for this first film! So there’s plenty to enjoy once the main feature is over. 

• Audio Commentary featuring Jon M. Chu
• Audio Commentary featuring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (HD 15:36)
• Pfannee & Shenshen Meet Glinda
• Shiz Gazette Introduces Fiyero
• Toss Toss
• Elphaba & Fiyero in the Forest
• Elphaba’s Promise
• Train Platform Farewell
• Boq & Elphaba Talk
• Train Ride to Emerald City
• In the Emerald City
• Palace Monkeys Chase 
• Making Wicked (HD 45:45)
• Welcome to Shiz (HD 8:02)
• A Wicked Legacy (HD 4:40)
• The Wonderful Wizard (HD 3:45)

As someone who regards musicals with a benign interest, I have to admit I was very curious about Wicked. It was certainly in development for long enough! I never did get to see the stage show. When I lived in Chicago I never won the lottery for tickets and the going rate for decent seats was far past what my retail gig could allow. But I listened to the cast recordings and it’s a fine-tuned show with some catchy songs! As a film, I have to say I still don’t understand the need to split it like this, but that’s what they did and we have to roll with it. At nearly three hours, this first half is just too long and the pace feels sluggish from so much padding. With all that exposition out of the way, my hope is Wicked: For Good moves more efficiently and delivers a rousing finale. As is, this was just a pretty good, divertingly entertaining first half. Fans of the show and the film will love to see that the 4K disc does the film justice. The 4K Dolby Vision transfer is terrific while the Atmos mix works hard to bring the house down. Cap it off with a genuinely impressive assortment of bonus features and you have a great disc. I may not love the film, but I can’t call this anything less than Recommended