Wicked (also known as Wicked – Part 1) is an American epic musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu, and written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. It is the first of a two-part film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman, which in turn was based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire and characters from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The film stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, with Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode (in her feature film debut), Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage in supporting roles. Set in the Land of Oz, largely before Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas, the plot covers the events of the musical's first act, following green-skinned Elphaba's studies at Shiz University and the beginning of her path to ultimately becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside an unlikely friendship and later rivalry with a classmate who later becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the North.
Wicked will premiere at the State Theatre in Sydney, Australia on November 3, 2024, with a theatrical release in the United States scheduled for November 22, 2024. The sequel, Wicked Part Two, is scheduled to be released on November 21, 2025.
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Sun Oct 27, 2024 5:29 am
Flava'd vs The World
The Kramer
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:36 am Posts: 25384 Location: Classified
Re: Wicked
That poster is the most offensive thing I have ever seen. You can barely even see Cynthia's eyes!!!!
Tue Oct 29, 2024 4:45 am
zwackerm
Hold the door!
Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:26 pm Posts: 21562 Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania
Re: Wicked
Wicked is a near perfect adaptation from every perspective other than pacing. It’s noticeably taking its time to get from scene to scene, unlike the play where it’s a breakneck pace. Some scenes it worked, others felt like they dragged on a bit unnecessarily. I do think making both halves as one film would have felt very rushed, and the split almost works perfectly other than a few scenes that go on too long. But the production design, special effects, performances and faithfulness to the play are all top notch.
Wed Nov 20, 2024 11:31 pm
thompsoncory
Rachel McAdams Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am Posts: 14621 Location: LA / NYC
Re: Wicked
I saw this a few weeks ago. I'm not a fan of this musical - the story is glorified fan-fiction and the songs are forgettable aside from one or two, I think it's vastly overhyped. The movie's story has a lot of the same problems that the musical has but I still enjoyed it, mostly due to the performances and the lush production design. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are both fantastic and the whole thing from top to bottom looks great. The musical numbers are also deftly staged and well-choreographed, and the final "Defying Gravity" bit is spectacular. It's still too long and Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh are quite bad in their supporting roles. But it translates better to the screen than I expected and is definitely a worthwhile time for the whole family.
Thu Nov 21, 2024 11:00 am
zwackerm
Hold the door!
Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:26 pm Posts: 21562 Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania
Re: Wicked
I feel like Goldblum was playing himself a bit, but I thought Yeoh did great.
Thu Nov 21, 2024 11:12 am
publicenemy#1
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:25 am Posts: 19419 Location: San Diego
Re: Wicked
Both leads are perfect. Kinda shocked how fantastic Ariana is here, happy for her.
Haven't seen the play yet but overall really enjoyed this.
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am Posts: 14621 Location: LA / NYC
Re: Wicked
Despite my criticisms I do think "Defying Gravity" and the Oz ball scene are two of the best movie moments of the year. The former is going to be a classic moment in popular film history.
Sun Nov 24, 2024 5:37 pm
Mr. Reynolds
Confessing on a Dance Floor
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 12:46 am Posts: 5578 Location: Celebratin' in Chitown
Re: Wicked
The last 10 minutes is cinema at its finest. I wish I could watch it over and over again.
Fri Nov 29, 2024 11:02 am
Barrabás
llegó a la casa vía marítima
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:53 pm Posts: 6326 Location: la gran casa de la esquina
Re: Wicked
Charming if a little ham-fisted, but the two leads elevate it (Ariana going supporting is blatant category fraud lol, they are both leads). Strangely for a musical, I found most of the musical sequences to be pretty extraneous to the plot. Maybe it's because this was written for Broadway and having a mega budget CGI version for the screen meant that the scope and mood could be conveyed with visuals alone, leaving the songs, which in the Broadway version are so crucial, a bit unnecessary. Could've also shaved half an hour off.
B+
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Sun Dec 15, 2024 5:49 pm
Darth Indiana Bond
007
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:43 pm Posts: 11613 Location: Wouldn't you like to know
Re: Wicked
Hot take; Jeff Goldblum is better than the Broadway version
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Fri Feb 07, 2025 6:22 pm
Shack
Devil's Advocate
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:30 am Posts: 40537
Re: Wicked
As a part 1 and going by wiki taking the exact events of the first half of the musical, it felt like not a complete enough movie to me. The ending with the classic evil book trope and Defying Gravity was great, but the 2 hours+ before that felt like an eternity, just a very long time for school scenes and I didn't care for the prince. Grande gives supporting actress win caliber performance channeling old school Hollywood actress, and Goldblum effective in his role. I think I would've been more interested in the storyline if either Glinda or the future Wicked Witch sister was the "main baddie" than the wizard and Morrible or they really showed Elphaba breaking bad, but I guess that was the book to stage adaptation choice more than the movie.
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