Despite these previous challenges, it is so exciting to see a movie feel like a true event. If you have had any sort of finger on the cultural pulse for the last few months, you have not been able to escape the promotion for Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked,” the film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. Whether it is the press tour, which has produced a myriad of viral moments, or the countless product tie-ins, the promotion for this movie has been a tireless effort to get people in the theater, and it seems to have paid off. The film is set to break box office records for musical adaptations. But, beyond the monetary success, does the film hold up as an adaptation of the beloved musical?

The film’s biggest strength, bar-none, comes from its performances. Cynthia Erivo takes on the role of the titular wicked witch, Elphaba, and absolutely knocks it out of the park. Along with possessing the obvious depth needed to play a character as troubled and ostracized as Elphaba, Erivo also brings an irreverent sarcasm and wit that plays perfectly off her bubbly co-star, Ariana Grande-Butera. Speaking of Grande-Butera, she gives the most stand-out performance in the film as the preppy and privileged Glinda. She taps into the work she did well over a decade ago on children’s sitcoms in order to give one of the best comedic performances of the year; landing every hair flip, tone deaf comment and snarky one liner. Grande-Butera also does a fantastic job finding the emotion of the performance in the film’s climax, which is a tall task for a character who spends so much of the runtime as comic relief. But of course it was not just the acting that these women nailed, the vocals were also impeccable. Erivo glides through ballads like “The Wizard And I” and “Defying Gravity,” performing seemingly inhuman riffs with ease. Grande-Butera deftly balances putting her own spin on “Popular” while still paying homage to the original performance by Kristin Chenoweth as it is one of the most acclaimed parts of the original musical.

Beyond the two leads, the supporting cast also delivers. Jonathan Bailey steals the show the moment he walks on screen, causing every other Shiz student to swoon over him. His rendition of “Dancing Through Life” seemingly had one directorial note, which was to look as sexy as possible and boy did he deliver. Smaller roles like Boq and Pfanee are played to perfection by Ethan Slater and Bowen Yang respectively. Slater deftly balanced Boq’s patheticness with a sweetness that endears the audience to him while Yang gives Pfannee the perfect mean girl energy the audience would want out of Glinda’s very own Gretchen Wieners. Unfortunately, the performances are not all slam dunks. Two of the more established names in the supporting cast, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, give less-than-inspired performances. Yeoh said that director Jon M. Chu begged her to play this role, and her entire performance feels as though she is simply doing it as a favor. She never possesses the warmth towards Erivo that makes her third act turn hurt, and as a result, the whole character of Madame Morrible falls flat. As for Goldblum, he just injects his role as the Wizard with too much of the typical Jeff Goldblum schtick, making the Wizard a little more hokey than believable for a totalitarian dictator.

But what do people come to a musical for? The music of course! And much like the performances, there is mostly good here, with some less-than-stellar numbers sprinkled in. On the positive side, you have a number like “What Is This Feeling,” which takes advantage of the medium of film in ways that the original show could not. Chu turns the number, where Elphaba and Glinda quarrel over their disdain, into a montage showcasing the increasingly elaborate ways the two women attempt to get under each other's skin. On the other side, quality-wise you have “The Wizard And I,” a number that leaves much to be desired as it is my favorite from the original musical. The vocals are stunning but the direction is very lifeless, with Elphaba gliding from point to point without a sense of purpose–like she is just hitting her marks rather than a character who lives in this world and is actively making decisions in it. That is a small blemish on a mostly great list of musical numbers though, and it is drowned out by the thrilling ensembles numbers like “Dancing Through Life” and “One Short Day,” which are so packed with detail they demand multiple viewings in order to catch everything.

That theme of mostly good, but small imperfections extends to the direction and visuals. The sets and costuming for the film are phenomenal, immersing viewers in the magical world of Shiz and the jaw-dropping Emerald city. But all of these beautiful sets and costumes are washed out by less than stellar lighting. This does not feel like the same technicolor dreamscape we saw Dororthy land in back in 1939. The flat lighting makes the sets look more drab than they should and feel at odds with the whimsical energy the rest of the film conveys.

At the end of the day, “Wicked” is a film that asks you to embrace it, warts and all. There is room to quibble about flat lighting and miscast roles, but that is not what you will remember when walking out of the theater. You will remember Erivo’s war cry that finishes off her transcendent rendition of “Defying Gravity” or the palpable chemistry between Grande-Butera and Bailey when they flirt with each other. “Wicked” is a film that asks you to feel and if you open your heart up and let the film make you feel, you will be rewarded with an experience you can only get from the big screen.