Bad first appeared on Broadway on June 10, 2003, eight years after the publication of Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name. The novel—Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the Westis of course based on that of L. Frank Baum The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 Hollywood adaptation.

This is a story with deep roots in American popular culture, dating back more than 100 years to a time when a yellow brick road was actually a metaphor for the gold standard. John Chu’s film adaptation of the play lives up to all that came before it, perfectly capturing the magic of the Broadway musical and deepening and enriching the story in a new medium.

I’m often baffled by adaptations, too many of which decide to take the original work and change it for no good reason, either to convey a message not in the original source material, or simply because they are, far too often, think they can tell. a better story by fundamentally changing the work. There are changes in it Bad, but they’re all in service of adapting a stage production to the big screen.

Not only do we get more scenes to establish Elphaba’s backstory and flesh out the world of Oz and Shiz University, but also more action scenes that simply wouldn’t be possible on stage. Songs that were once confined to a theater can now be sung in vast fields or magical forests. Elphaba is no longer tied to impressive stage flight tricks; now she floats above the towering green spiers of the Emerald City, her black cloak billowing in the sunset sky.

There’s one new musical segment that takes place when our heroes arrive in the Emerald City, and it largely serves as exposition (albeit fun exposition) about the history of Oz, the magical Grimmerie, and a prophecy that recontextualizes Elphaba’s role in all of this. , and sets the stage for her encounter shortly afterwards with the Wizard himself, played by a puckish Jeff Goldblum.

(I’ll have to make a note of that Bad the musical makes huge changes to Maguire’s novel. They can and probably should be considered almost completely different works, and while the core of the story remains the same, there are huge changes in the ending, in the interests of some characters, and so on. Not to mention all the songs).

All about Bad is a triumph of cinema, from its fidelity to the musical to its beautiful and creative sets, costumes and special effects. Oz comes to life in a way we’ve never seen before: a colorful steampunk fantasy world packed with magic, possibility and danger. But it’s the brilliant performances that really take the film to the next level.

Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba, an outcast from Munchkinland who was born green. Her life has been tough, and when she arrives at Shiz University – originally just to keep an eye on her younger sister Nessarose, but soon embraced by the wizardry professor Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) – she soon discovers that some things never change.

She becomes roommates and bitter rivals with Galinda, a rich and beautiful – and very popular – young Ozian, played by Ariana Grande. The relationship between these two women is the narrative backbone of the film, and the film couldn’t have picked better actors to play these roles.

Fans were cautious about Grande’s casting when it was announced. She is of course best known as a pop star and singer. But she definitely has Galinda in mind here, from her ridiculous hair toss to her erratic, self-obsessed personality, flickering between a dull and superficial exterior to a deeper, more empathetic side that she keeps hidden from the world.

Meanwhile, Erivo captures Elphaba’s personality down to the last detail. She is defiant and defensive, but also emotionally raw, a young woman who has been rejected by everyone, including her father, but somehow continues on her own and privately wishes for a happy ending, never expecting to find one.

And both women can do that sing. There have been some mistakes in Hollywood’s casting choices in the past when it comes to major Broadway adaptations. Not so here. A character sings along every moment Bad is delicious.

I was absolutely blown away by every song. Of course there are the most memorable ones like ‘Popular’ and ‘Defying Gravity’, the latter serving as the end of the first Act on Broadway (and a rush to the toilet and bar during intermission) and the last song here before it. A “To be continued” appears on the screen, with a much longer break before the second film comes out. But the other songs are also very nice.

The wizard and me gives us our first real look at just how powerful Erivo’s singing chops are as he takes us on a tour of Shiz and the surrounding area. “What is this feeling?” perfectly establishes the budding rivalry and disgust the two women feel for each other. “Dancing Through Life” has one of the most creative set pieces in the entire film in the Shiz library, and serves as a major turning point in Elphaba and Galinda’s relationship, with one scene in particular really expanding the musical’s version on a way that only film can really achieve (you just can’t do close-ups in a stage production).

The rest of the cast is also brilliant. Jonathan Bailey is charming as the rather athletic Fiyero. Yeoh’s Morrible is wonderfully deceptive. The list goes on.

The film is also littered with cameos, both big and small, all of which are nice tributes to the people who made it such a Broadway sensation over the past twenty years. An extended “One Short Day” not only gives us the original stars of the stage production, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth – with some pretty big singing parts! – but also composer Stephen Schwartz as one of the guards, author Gregory Maguire as another guard, scriptwriter Winnie Holzman as a woman who shouts: ‘He needs a . . . wizard!” and many more, including other actors who have starred over the years.

I actually went to the Broadway musical earlier this summer (I had seen it on Broadway many years ago), so it was fresh in my mind when I went to see the movie. I’m happy to report that the film captures the magic of the musical almost perfectly, while adding its own magic along the way. I often complain about how long movies are, but even at 2 hours and 40 minutes, I was never bored or restless and longing for it to be over. I’m also glad they chose to split the two acts of the film into two films. At first that sounded like a cynical Hollywood decision to make more money, but after watching I can’t imagine it any other way. Even if they had made it a three and a half hour movie, it would have been way too rushed.

Instead, we got a well-paced, lovingly made film that gives audiences a reason to go to the cinema in a world where that is increasingly the case. The Sunday afternoon show I went to was sold out. The audience was clearly excited, although I missed the clapping that comes with a live show after each song.

Bad is a stunning success in almost every way, from the stellar performances, to the sound design and special effects, to the inventive sets and costumes and its ability to capture what made the Broadway musical so special in the first place – and defied both gravity as my expectations at every turn. Watch it on the biggest screen you can find. It’s the most fun I’ve had at the movies all year.