Wicked has been in theaters for a full week, and the musical-based movie has been almost as popular as Ariana Grande’s Glinda. It raked in $114 million domestically over opening weekend, making Jon M. Chu’s flick the most successful Broadway adaptation.
Grande is fantastic in the role, as is Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Erivo brings such beauty and sadness to the role of the misunderstood witch, and her voice is unreal. The movie is split into two parts, mimicking the acts of the musical. That means we get 11 wonderful songs in the first part, including the chill-inducing “Defying Gravity,” the upbeat “Popular” and Erivo’s belting of “The Wizard and I.”
Here’s how we ranked all of the songs from the movie Wicked.
I’m so sorry, Jeff Goldblum. You are fantastic, but something has to be in last place.
This song is the center of the plot, with the wonderful Peter Dinklage taking on the role of talking goat Dr. Dillamond. It’s honestly just so sad with him starting to lose his ability to speak partway through.
Like most alma maters, it’s fine and everyone is super stoked about school.
Please don’t get mad, this song is good! It’s just not my favorite! Elphaba is going through all the feelings about Glinda and Fiyero and the animals, and this is our true ballad.
“One Short Day” is the tune Glinda and Elphaba get upon their arrival to the Emerald City, and I won’t say more, but there’s a massive cameo.
Is there anything Jonathan Bailey is bad at? If there is, please let me know as soon as possible. His Fiyero owns this number, led by his incredible — and actually performed — book tricks as part of the choreography. This one spans nearly 10 minutes, and it’s lovely.
Welcome to the movie, folks. Hope you’re ready for the next two hours and 40 minutes. “No One Mourns The Wicked” drops you right into Oz following the melting death of the Wicked Witch of the West courtesy of Dorothy. A jarringly aggressive number from the members of Munchkinland is mixed with a sad song from Glinda.
This almost made it to the No. 3 spot, and it was hard to pick. “The Wizard and I” is the first time you get to hear Erivo sing, and her delivery of the line “help me meet the Wizard” (1:18 in) scratches my brain in exactly the right way. It’s a song that embodies sadness and hope and Erivo sounds so wonderful.
Man, I love this song. When the first “loathing, unadulterated loathing” hits, your life will change. The lyrics are fun, the choreography is fantastic and it’s the first chance you get to see just what charm and charisma Grande brings to Glinda.
“Popular” is one of the more recognizable — and dare we say, popular — songs from the musical, and expectations were high for the peppy tune. Grande was absolutely in her bag for this performance, sounding incredible and delivering humor in the performance. Plus the step-up change at the ending of the song is unreal, and her “RIGHT” in the middle of it has understandably become a hilarious meme.
With about 10 minutes left in the movie, I thought to myself, “this movie is great, but why was everyone leaving sobbing?” Then Cynthia Erivo did that, and I was no longer confused. “Defying Gravity” is notoriously one of the most difficult songs to sing, and Erivo sent chills down my spine and goosebumps along every inch as she hit that closing riff. I am quasi-annoyed at the decision to make it a two-part movie, but it only feels right to get the curtain drop moment when “Defying Gravity” ends.