'Wicked' Defied Our Expectations | Movie Review

[@paulwhittemore4309]

I disagree that the film should have been trimmed. Not a moment was wasted, IMO, and some of the parts that maybe felt extraneous if you aren't familiar with WICKED will become relevant in Part 2. Also, re: whether they can add new songs for Part 2--they've already confirmed that Stephen Schwartz wrote two new songs for the second film.

[@marcusmelancon3426]

I disagree like I think Dancing through life could’ve been trimmed down in some way something could’ve been done because it’s a long movie that feels like a long movie and that’s a problem but overall I really enjoyed it but something’s I’m sure they could’ve cut

[@paulwhittemore4309]

@ Which parts of Dancing Through Life should’ve been trimmed, in your opinion?

[@sleepingseb4312]

people who grew watching 3 hour long bollywood movies are laughing at people calling this too long

[@vampirehours]

Great review. I've seen the move three times, so far. The Oz Dust Ballroom scene breaks me every time. The movie is a unique visual and emotional experience that I haven't had in more years than I can count. I also found a big difference in sound from a "regular" theater and when I watched it in IMAX. The sound and picture quality was SO much better in IMAX. It's still enjoyable at a regular theater, but IMAX really upped the overall game.

[@Emmylof]

One of the first podcasts I’ve listened to that actually enthusiastically liked it. I don’t care for complaints of the cast being too old or the movie being too long. That’s definitely something I can look past, it’s a fantasy world.

[@mariebunch4930]

Correction: There are two big hits in Wicked...."Defying Gravity" AND "For Good".....they use motifs of "For Good" throughout the first movie. So "For Good" will be the BIG song hit in the 2nd movie.

[@gjford1951]

Under Cynthia's singing, I'm Not That Girl and The Wizard and I may become big karaoke hit, if they are not already. And after they become karaoke hits, it might become a big hit.

[@albalopez2082]

Don’t forget No Good Deeds.

[@davidcampbell4174]

It was so good I carved out 6 hours in one week. Saw it in a standard theater setting, then saw in a week later in 3D. It was awesome in 3D.

[@Moyodsreds]

I DID see on another commentary , that in the original Wizard of Oz Movie…Dorothy wakes up in her Kansas bed wearing the Ruby slippers !! That was edited out perhaps because they didn’t want kids to think Oz was a real place? this entire story could be hearsay? What an interesting concept, though

[@dimitrigerman8376]

Sure to be a money horse for Universal

[@Moyodsreds]

Loved the movie so much ! Saw it three times already ! Never once did I think it was too long or needed editing ! It was perfect and had room to breathe rather than rush through plot lines! Cinematography the sets, the costumes, and the singing we’re off the charts! A modern musical masterpiece!

[@reneepope-munro8115]

Just here to say this work significantly predates Batman Begins, and basically kicked off the villain origin story trend of the last 25 years. without wicked, there is no Maleficent, Cruella, Joker etc. And For Good will absolutely be the smash hit of Part 2.

[@Karma-rc8tf]

I saw Wicked. I enjoyed it. I really liked Jonathan Bailey as Fiyeron and Ethan Slater as Boq. I just wished they had more to do.

[@MichelleGoldstein-Dresner]

Stay tuned for Wicked: For Good.

[@johndebono1870]

To make a slight disagreement on David's point, best musical of the last 50 years might be a stretch (With In The Heights, there is an argument it's not even Jon Chu's best musical). That being said, I feel like there is something special about how unapologetic of a capital S spectacle of a musical it is vs. the more realistic or gritty aesthetic (La La Land, Chicago, Hedwig, West Side Story, or even In The Heights kinda did). The fact that it also has the emotional substance to back up the spectacle in a ways that Greatest Showman doesn't, just makes it all the rewarding.

[@twosawyers]

9:54 ya’ll may need to watch this movie on a QDOLED screen because everybody I’ve shown it to thought it was very vibrant.

[@zenwolfbear]

best all time cast 🙌🏽

[@andrewstorm8240]

There could be Wicked 3

[@MichelleGoldstein-Dresner]

They apparently sang everything live.

[@jool4867]

Pointless

[@zenwolfbear]

Consciousness, forgets and forgives concentrates finds & forgives

[@MichelleGoldstein-Dresner]

Stephen Schwartz wrote 2 new songs for 2nd movie.

[@SuperheroMovies999]

What an Incredible Watch. Guys, this could possibly win Best Picture, given how late in the year the release is(a big factor to keep the buzz and Energy going) and how Brilliant the Film is. Elements of the Film - 💪 - Cynthia Erivo Gives a Super Strong Performance, the Acting, the Singing, the ceiling hitting highs that she's involved with near the Very End, Everything. 💭 - Ariana Grandes Performance was at Times Astonishing, she Constantly Had this Dreamlike Quality to Her. 🦄 - She also, at times, had a Deity Esque Feel. With the way people around her reacted and acted around her, the way she moves and talks, Mannerisms etc. 📜 - The Plotline keeps interest throughout the entire thing(for me). Besides being a story about how Glinda and Elphaba met, It's a build and what if of, what if everything you heard about the Wicked Witch of the West was Propaganda. 🎵 - The Songs were Solid, with Some Songs and Moments Being better than Others 🙋🏻🙋🏻🙋🏻 - The Supporting Cast Were Solid, Fiyero, Madame Morrible, The Wizard of Oz, Pfannee, ShenShen, all Solid Performances. 🎠 - The Production Design is Magnificent, it looked so Good, it's just Beautiful, you have to experience it. Overall, one of the greatest experiences of 2024, that build & ceiling hitting high during the Very End was so good.

[@mariebunch4930]

Absolutely, and don't forget choreography. In one of the songs, the stomps in the choreo was so precise that they actually use the dance steps (stomps) as the percussion. Just astonishing.

[@SuperheroMovies999]

Yes exactly, that moment was quite something, again the high energy at multiple moments was so good

[@AntsTheaterCorner2698]

It might just. It's artistic filmmaking combined with character development and political mistrust themes. The election is the reason this film will win. Oppenheimer won for a similar reason last year. The crescendo ending of this film solidifies it as a conclusive narrative and The Academy is all over this film. Even after hype dies down, it's still going to be the biggest academy film of the nominees. It's just everything they love combined with everything they loved about Oppenheimer. I'm guessing a record of 14 nominations.

[@johndebono1870]

So somebody is in the NBR committee. Though in all seriousness, I can see it being in the top contender. I think I might like Anora slightly more, but the combo of acclaim, box office, and the credibility of the "About the Trump era without really being about the Trump era" argument there are a lot of checked boxes there.

[@AntsTheaterCorner2698]

@johndebono1870 That's what will push it over the line.

[@zenwolfbear]

film cast 🎉

[@TherealRNOwwfpooh]

Besides John M Chu. wanting to make the OZ of _Wicked_ seem more realized & ground than the overly saturated technicolors of its prevailing 1939 MGM film influence, there is also the fact that, unlike L. Frank Baum's source novel & even the 1939 MGM film on its own, the book _Wicked: The Life & Times of The Wicked Witch of The West_ written by gay author Gregory Mcguire, the true source material that the 2003 musical (and as such, the theatrical film counterpart) adapted, is far darker than either of those, given the systematic racism against Elphaba for her green skin, the oppression against the sapient Animals (Dr. Dillamond [another literal "scapegoat" as it were, as voiced by Peter Dinkledge], the future Cowardly Lion, the Flying/Winged Monkeys, etc.), Tibbet contracting the OZian equivalent of AIDs due to getting raped by a Tiger in the infamous Philsophy Club (the film version of the OZdust Ballroom seems to be a composite version of both the book's Philosphy Club & the musical version of the OZdust Ballroom), the whole soap opera aspect involving the love triangle between Elphie X G[a]lnda (later Glinda) X Fiyero, on top of the future Good Witch of the North fobbing off simp Boq to Elphie's crippled/disabled & holier-than-thou (Nessa becomes a overbearing tyrant due to her stringent religious upbringing, strongly indicative through her metaphorically handcuffing Boq to a relationship he really didn't want, but regretfully felt indebted to stay in upon witnessing G[a]linda kiss Fiyero & later being publicly engaged to him also [mind you, Fiyero, for his part as the crown prince of the Winkie/Vinkus/Arjikie western region of OZ, is already married to his wife Sirfina long before he ever shows up at Shiz University, since the 1995 novel says that he & his betrothed were put into an arranged marriage together by the tribal elders when they were just 7-years-old]) sister, but once it was shown that Glinda was single again due to Fiyero choosing Elphie over her & Elphie had used the Grimmorie to enchant the footwear Frex had gifted Nessa to help her sister walk unassisted (I'm not really sure how the 2nd portion of the two-part film will interpret this, considering there's already backlash over disability erasure on the grounds that Marissa Bode, the actress portraying Nessa, is literally a wheelchair user, yet Nessa being able to walk without needing anyone else to help her is key to her character development & is also a crucial element in the _Wicked_ retelling of how things were just before everything literally falls apart once a jealous Glinda informs Madame Morrible that the best way to lure number 1 fugitive Elphie out of hiding is to go after her sister, which thereby prompts Madame Morrible to use her weather powers to summon a tornado & we all know what happens following the whirling wind's summoning), Boq attempts to leave, but not before calling both witch half-sisters equally WICKED, which leads to Nessa using the Grimmorie to curse Boq, unintentionally shrinking his heart to where he's basically going to die unless Elphie saves him, which Elphie does (She saved Boq out of familial obligation to Nessa [Nessa still loves Boq, even if she now knows he never loved her], alongside the fact that she doesn't want anyone else left of her former friend group [of which Boq was a part of, somewhat] to be killed because of the ongoing machinations plaguing OZ), turning him into the Tin Man (this is the direct result of the 2003 _Wicked_ musical combining together the characters of Boq the Munchkin & Nick Chopper, the OG Tin Woodsman, which the theatrical film itself also does, since Boq's surname is listed in the film as Woodsman), who is vengefully ungrateful that Elphie kept him alive, because it just solidified the fact that he's never going to get with Glinda (despite the real world knowledge that Ariana Grande homewrecked the marriage of Ethan Slater, but that's utterly irrelevant to the kayfabe of the story), which was already proven conclusively anyway, since Glinda's ONLY ROMANTIC INTERESTS are Fiyero AND Elphaba! As we all well know, the tornado Madame Morrible summons crash lands the Gale farmhouse -- with innocent farmgirl Dorothy Gale & her terrier Toto inside, who were carried "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from sepia tone Kansas during the Dust Bowl/the Great Depression time period in American history/the year 1900 when L. Frank Baum first penned _The Wonderful Wizard of OZ_ source material book that everything is entirely based on -- atop Nessa, squashing her to death & the events of _The Wizard of OZ_ proper start playing out. Now, at the exact same time that the catfight between Elphie & Glinda ensues in Munchkinland (Thankfully, Glinda had already sent Dorothy w/ Toto in tow on down the Yellow Brick Road, so Dorothy doesn't have to see two grown witches fighting over some guy they used to know during their collegiate years, never mind Elphie's rage at her former best friend for magicking her dead sister's shoes onto Dorothy's feet), the ironically named Gale Force militia working for the corrupt regime in charge string up Fiyero in a cornfield, effectively nailing him to a makeshift cross/telephone pole/tentpole/stick in the ground, in a mock crucifixion of sorts (This was gay author Gregory Mcguire's shot aimed directly at Christianity & other orthodox religions for their unjust hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community). The Gale Force are essentially trying to get Fiyero to reveal Elphie's location, which he stubbornly refuses to do, because he loves Elphaba & knows of the lingering threat posed against her. This, in turn, leads Elphie to once again use the Grimmorie to try & keep Fiyero from getting killed as he's getting bludgeoned to near-death in the mournful "No Good Deed", which obviously transforms Fiyero into the brainless Scarecrow, much in the same way Elphie had used the Grimmorie to transform Boq into the heartless Tin Man. Of course, this only leads to further confusion when you know that the promotional team/marketing department for _Wicked_ have attempted on multiple occasions to directly link the story of _Wicked_ to the 1939 MGM film (despite the fact that competing entertainment company Warner Bros. owns the copyright to that particular film & NOT Universal Studios, the company that actually owns _Wicked_ as an intellectual property), in spite of the glaring inconsistencies between the two that extend outside of two completely different companies controlling the copyright. For instance, if you've watched the 1939 MGM film (as the majority of the civilized world has), you would recall Margaret Hamilton's villlaniously cackling Wicked Witch of the West trying more than once to set Ray Bolger's Scarecrow on fire, never mind the fact that the 1939 MGM film goes out of its way to show that Dorothy's trip to OZ was all a dream due to a bump on the head from a flying windowpane during the Kansas twister (Compare this to all other interpretations of OZ that actively view OZ as a REAL place, just like the original L. Frank Baum books did, _Wicked_ included), along with the scrapped side plot of Judy Garland's version of Dorothy being in a budding romantic relationship with the farmhand Hunk (also played by Ray Bolger, Hunk was the Kansas counterpart to the Scarecrow through some notable lines hinting to what was to come, hence the retained leftover scene between Dorothy & the straw man at the end of her technicolor adventure, where she hugs him & says, "I think I'll miss you most of all" shortly before clicking the heels of the Ruby Slippers thrice to return home to Kansas), even though later OZ books in the "Famous 40" lineup outright make both Dorothy Gale X Princess OZma & Scarecrow X Scraps the Patchwork Girl official literary canon. But back to _Wicked_ & the fact that, per the end of the 2003 musical, Scarecrow! Fiyero... *SPOILER ALERT* ...Scarecrow! Fiyero romantically gets with not-really-dead Elphie at the end of the _Wicked_ musical. *END SPOILER* This bittersweet ending designed to send theatergoers home happy IS a stark contrast to the CANON TRAGEDY found within the 1995 novel by Gregory Mcguire, since both Fiyero & Elphie each CANONICALLY DIE in that specific novel, since the literary Fiyero legitimately dies at the hands of the Gale Force's beatdown (although a delusional Elphie does think the Scarecrow accompanying Dorothy could be Fiyero incognito, hence why she orders the Flying/Winged Monkeys to tear him apart, hopeful that Fiyero would be underneath the Scarecrow guise, but this was just poor Elphie's mind deteriorating, which is why the novel tries to suggest that what inevitably occurs was a Mercy Kill), while literary Elphie's melting in the book is 100% REAL & not some mere staged fabrication like the 2003 musical (and more than likely, the 2nd half of the film to be released on November 21, 2025) implies (That is, unless it is actually Ariana Grande's Glinda riding Fiyero's talking Horse [of a different color] back to the Emerald City to out The Wizard as Elphie's ashamed father & NOT Cynthia Erivo's Elphie riding off to reunite with Jonathan Bailey as Scarecrow! Fiyero after he abdicates his position of authority to Glinda following the departures of the charlatan Wizard [carny magician Oscar Diggs, as portrayed in the fillm by Jeff Goldblum] via a fixed hot air balloon & Dorothy Gale w/ Toto via Nessa's enchanted footwear, as well as the arrest of Michelle Yo's Madame Morrible for the legitimate murder of Marissa Bode's Nessa via the cyclone + falling farmhouse combo [Sure, technically, it was Dorothy Gale who was unknowingly responsible for the pair of dual witch killings, but Dorothy is just an ignorant, innocent child, whereas Madame Morrible is a fully-grown adult sorceress, who knew exactly what she was doing by creating the cyclone that ultimately ended Nessa's life]).

[@Cutelatinguy2]

It was a cyclone.

[@zenwolfbear]

urth is vibrating at a difference resonance

[@zenwolfbear]

👐🏽

[@rygregory]

Nope. The film was as long as it needed to be. If you want to placate the “squirmy” kids, you’d be upsetting the theater “kids” who waited 21 years for this.

[@othonbenavente1876]

You guys are on track until someone said the second part has no show stopping song...For Good tears me up without fail. For Good seals the deal on the musical. You can't dismiss that and retain credibility. C'mon guys.

[@zenwolfbear]

❤

[@zenwolfbear]

speak it mijo 😊

[@zenwolfbear]

yesterday now or never, hig ur neighbor, child or self

[@zenwolfbear]

Yerp 👍🏽

[@jool4867]

I tried to give it a shot. Couldn’t make it past the second song. Not my cup of tea

[@Sayu277]

No good deed and for good are showstoppers imo...

[@zenwolfbear]

👀

[@shigermuleye5203]

hm, it's a hit so not drumming the racist tomtoms for this one.

[@DougerSR]

Why in the hell would you take your young spawn to this movie on a holiday morning. So strange. Plus they haven’t seen The Wizard of Oz. You need to get your kids out from under the rock. Damn.

[@zenwolfbear]

😳

[@zenwolfbear]

they will speak of these Hollywood gaps as evo or dev

[@zenwolfbear]

😂😃😳

[@zenwolfbear]

musicals... musakicant

[@zenwolfbear]

stretch time less u b here‽

[@zenwolfbear]

learnt turnt yerp't

[@zenwolfbear]

❤

[@bbrev106]

❤