I Saw "Wicked" Today and Was...Underwhelmed

Well these kinds of shows are never Puccini or Strauss, are they?

Even Thr Critical Drinker, a MAGA-adjacent Scotsman who reviews movies and tv shows, had to admit he kind of liked it.

(BTW I watch him because he’s very entertaining, not because I always agree with him.)

Yes Galinda was supposed to be a mean girl, Elpheba is the odd girl who Galinda eventually befriends.

It's half of a musical stretched out to a full length picture and it shows.

Cynthia is the better actress of the two and it's noticeable, but Ariana did better than I expected.

My take on the original musical is that it has a few good songs and that's about it, so this longer version was not my cuppa.

Did Elpheba have a disabled sister in the play, or was that something that was added for the movie?

[quote] But of course, now I'm going to have to see Part 2 to find out what happens after Cynthia Erivo goes flying away on her broom.

I'll spare you the misery:

SPOILERS

She fights the Wizard and in the process becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. She becomes unglued when Dorothy arrives in the tornado from Kansas that kills her sister, especially because Glinda gives Dorothy her sister's jeweled shoes. She becomes unhealthily obsessed with getting the shoes back, but then Dorothy throws water at her, and she pretends that she melts, but actually she escapes to fuck Fiyero, who becomes the Scarecrow, as much as she wants while everyone thinks she's been destroyed. Also, the frightened lion cub from Part 1 comes back as the Cowardly Lion, and Boq becomes the Tin Man.

There's also a whole bunch of songs.

[quote] Did Elpheba have a disabled sister in the play,

Yes.

They're making a part 2? No, just no.

R8 I believe it's already been made. They're just going to wait to release it until next year.

I've had sufficient.

I'm fucking sick to death of hearing about this "film" and Anorexiana Grande and Cynthia "the Bull" Everio and their bullshit PR tour where they pretend that this movie is some God-given gift to everyone, and we should all "hold space" for it and its "message."

Get OVER yourselves!

[quote]R5: Did Elpheba have a disabled sister in the play, or was that something that was added for the movie?

[quote]R7: Yes.

So did the book.

Armless Nessarose is the way the story re-imagines the Wicked Witch of the East.

I will never see this film or its sequel, at least not voluntarily (some things are culturally inescapable, and there's a likelihood that my best friend may make me watch it, 'tho I can assure you it will be under strong protest). You see, I believe that not everything is cut out to be a musical. I was a fan of Gregory Maguire's original book, and had hoped for a straightforward adaptation of it, but that is not ever going to happen now.

It kind of felt like Cynthia Erivo's character was the Emerald City version of Carrie. I kept waiting for her to lock up everyone at Shiz University with her mind, then set 'em all on fire.

I read the book longer before seeing the show.

I preferred the book to the show.

Does the movie end with Defying Gravity - does it break at roughly the same point between Act I and II?

R14 Yes, the movie ends with Defying Gravity as Cynthia flies away on her broom.

I enjoyed the book back when I read it but it didn’t stay with me. I couldn’t tell you a thing about it today except that it’s much darker than the show. It was the main reason I resisted the play for years, which felt to bubblegum by comparison. That and I couldn’t stand the idea of being surrounded by superfans.

I enjoyed the film more than I expected. Some fun moments and good performances. It will never be my favorite musical, but it feels right for the times. I need to see it again but looking back, though I wouldn’t call it boring, not a whole lot happens for such a lengthy film.

I've seen the musical twice and love it but I am not interested in the film

Apparently, I'm never going to see the movie because it's likely going to stream on Peacock.

I'm not paying for Peacock just to watch this movie.

OP - you only saw half of it. That's why. The other half comes out next year.

[Quote] Then there's Bowen Yang, who simply brings his lame SNL queen schtick to the big screen. A useless character that does nothing to propel the story along. Whose dick did he suck to get that part?

every one that cock hog could get

[quote]The other half comes out next year.

Even if there is a second part, every movie should have a beginning, middle, and end.

It just means it's a poorly structured story if it doesn't.

As I said in the other Wicked thread. I'm not a Broadway gay, and I don't like or understand musicals; they're silly to me. I went to his film because my friends wanted to go, and I thought it was a great way to get a large popcorn and a Pepsi and not feel guilty about the calories.

I enjoyed the movie, despite myself. I thought it was well done and that Cynthia Erivo was amazing from beginning to end. In the final act, I couldn't take my eyes off her.

I've decided that many on DL who hate this movie hate it because they hate Cynthia Erivo and don't particularly care for Grande, but their true hate is for Erivo for whatever reason. Some suggest that DL hates black actresses (which seems to be a running theme if you've been around here long enough), and others seem to think she's entitled. I don't know or care, and I will not spend time trying to decipher the various motives of a bunch of anonymous people on a message board. She's just great in the movie; she makes the movie for me.

They should have had Liza cameo

One short day in the Emerald Shitty...

I’ve seen clips on YouTube and thought Arianna Grande looked and sounded so freaky that she almost didn’t look human. I had never heard of Cynthia Erivo before but from what I saw she was amazing.

[quote] my best friend may make me watch it, 'tho I can assure you it will be under strong protest

You don’t have any friends, but nice try. Although given your predilection toward fan fiction, it is no surprise that you have conjured up an imaginary friend.

R13, agreed. I thought Elphaba was just Green Carrie White.

I feel like from here to eternity Bowen Yang should always be referred to as “Wicked star Bowen Yang,” just as a joke. I doubt he’ll have much to do in the second part since Bailey turns out to be the Scarecrow, doesn’t Boq turn out to be the Tin Man and we’ve already seen the cowardly lion cub.

The music was the worst part. Especially since the music in the original, by Harold Arlen, is so amazing. I mean it was SO bad. Has Stephen Schwartz never heard Optimistic Voices? It was embarrassing the shit music they used at the Emerald City. Did he write all the lyrics too? What a bunch of pablum.

I thought it was supposed to be like this girl power story but Ariana Grande sold out Elphaba quicker than Sponge Bob sold out his wife! I didn’t understand why she was siding with the Wizard at the end and from the looks on Grande’s face, neither did she. The character didn’t make a lot of sense. Her big number, Popular, didn’t work without an audience and two decades on, that number still belongs to Kristin Chenoweth - her light comedic touch with it is always what made it work. Rather insanely, every Galinda since then has felt compelled to do more but none of them can compete with her version.

Would non-Americans enjoy WICKED if they had no knowledge of the Wizard of Oz?

You can really tell Erivo and Grande went off the rails during the Wicked press tour because what the fuck were they going on about all of their crying and hand-holding? The PRs must’ve just been like, “O-kay.” The movie is not that deep. They’re not even Thelma & Louise.

Well R30, the international box office is lagging over 20 percentage points behind Barbie so that might be your answer.

I don’t think it has the “event” appeal internationally that it appears to have domestically.

R11 You might need to relax. Self project much?

R30 As a fellow non-American, I understand your point. I know what the Wizard of Oz is but have never seen it. It just doesn't have the same cultural impact outside of the US. Americans get REALLY angry when you point this out.

Isnt the director asian? gay? Maybe that’s why Bowen Yang thing? jus sayin…

a musical most suitable for the deaf.

[quote]I know what the Wizard of Oz is but have never seen it. It just doesn't have the same cultural impact outside of the US. Americans get REALLY angry when you point this out.

I cannot believe you have never sought out the freaking Wizard of Oz. It blows my mind. It's one of the most incredible, important and crucially most magical movies of all time.

I'm REALLY angry, R34.

I didn't like, at all, either of the female leads in the film. They both sang the score fine, but they are both very humorless young women and for me that came through in spades. My audience didn't laugh once at anything they did. There are a lot of really very funny lines in the musical's book, for Elphaba as well as Galinda, but if you hadn't seen the stage show you'd have had no idea.

The design is brilliant and for the most part the filming is terrific (the way the camera moves through shots, the filming of the finale, etc). The techos have taken real care with the story, all the way down to the wig mistress pointing out that the blond streaks in Fiyero's hair happen to echo the pattern in his jacket, "but we were always going to do blond streaks because of his story arc".

I have one question. Did I fall asleep, or did they omit the rainstorm in the Enchanted Wood in which we, and Fiyero, see Elphaba survive getting wet? Surely that's a key scene?

R22 I'm truly interested in what you thought was so riveting about Cynthia Erivo's performance.

I thought she did a fine job, but I wasn't blown away by her performance. I didn't find anything particularly memorable about it.

R38 There wasn't a scene with a rainstorm in the Enchanted Wood. There was a scene at the beginning where it rains at Shiz University, but that's it.

I wrote this in another Wicked thread. It was way too long. They could have shaved off an hour (too much exposition was frontloaded) and not really damaged the film.

I thought the last, I don't know, forty minutes were the strongest. Everything that takes place in the Emerald City made the film worth it to me. The flying monkey scene was enchanting; it's the closest Wicked came to matching the charm of the 1939 film. But the entire film lacked charm.

The political message was far too unsubtle. I felt like I was being hit over the head, repeatedly. That also made it less enjoyable.

One small detail I appreciated what the title card, which very consciously matched the style of the title card of the 1939 film.

Loved it - was fun. But, I went into it not with my mind made up to hate it, like some people.

I thought it was ok. Ariana did a fairly decent impression of Kristen Chenoweth.

Are there any truly memorable songs other than Defying Gravity? I do love that song but even it is lyrically awkward.

The cameos by Edina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth were awkward. They both looked like Beverly Hills plastic surgery victims

R45 PopUlar

It's the best musical about 35-ywar-olds in college you'll see this year!

R48 It's like "Grease" in the Land of Oz!

How does Michelle Yeoh continue to get cast in major motion pictures?

The woman can't act. She can only stand and pose and sound imperious.

Michelle Yeoh does mean very well imo.

I didn't mind Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh is Bitch Supreme

Ariana Grande kept the theater laughing the hole way through at the showing I saw r38

R54 When I saw it, the audience was almost completely silent throughout the movie. There were a couple of sporadic chuckles at some of Ariana's lines, but that was about it.

R55 Sounds like Lucas admired the film's technical accomplishments.

Wicked has outgrossed every Harry Potter film in the US. That's amazing!

I was in a rather empty theater when I saw it, r56, but I noticed the same thing. Very few audible laughs even at the ostensibly funny parts.

I did jump at the one jump scare, which I felt was unnecessary.

I love how all the haters who said that Wicked would flop look like idiots now.

It is good and entertaining, R58, but maybe Wicked is just competing against what is currently available. R60, I am not saying Wicked is that at all but even you know what floats.

But, but OP! In the other thread, there was a standing ovation in every single theater in every town and city that every poster had attended! I just thought it was my lone city where the theater was half full, there was no applause or standing ovation when it was over.

Deriving an identity around things you don’t like is a sure ticket to becoming a sour, unhappy person. Especially when you feed off the negative energy generated by hating things that most people like.

Creating something on your own or appreciating what others create reveals far more about you.

My favorite is the one mentioning that it is not doing as well as Barbie in foreign markets. The only one comparing this moving to Barbie is that poster. The movie has done well. And the people who like to mention that their theaters were quiet during the film, maybe you live in an area without a lot of Wicked fans, teen girls, and gays.

I don't understand what the big deal is. If you hated Wicked, have no intention of seeing it, etc, why not just leave those who do enjoy it alone?

r64 the theater was completely silent in Pasadena, CA.

everyone killed themselves in my theatre. such a mess.

R67 😆

Michelle Yeoh is brilliance personified. It's nothing but an extreme honor to be in her presence.

How did Elphaba know how to recite a spell to help herself fly? A few minutes earlier, when she read out the spell to give the monkeys wings, she didn't even understand what she was saying.

Although I live alone, I can't wait to see the reaction in my bedroom when I stream it!

R70 That made no sense to me, either. And it seemed the monkeys weren't too happy about suddenly sprouting wings, so I'm not sure how they were all suddenly on Elphaba's side and flew away with her.

R63 Deep thoughts.

The basic plot of Wicked is that Elphaba shows the most potential so she is brought to the wizard since he has no magic himself, but she does not agree with the impression of the talking animals. In the play the talking goat has a much bigger role. The wizard's advisor declares her wicked because she won't do what they want. So they turn to their only other option, Elpaba;s sister Nessa Rose, tries to use Magic on Boq but shrinks his heart. She begs Elphab to save him so she uses a spell and it turns him into the Tin man (if I only had a heart). She gave Nessa the shoes so she could walk, which is why she is so mad when Glinda gives them to Dorothy. The Lion she saves becomes the cowardly lion. When Fiero is fighting the Wizard's soldiers she uses a spell to make it so he cannot die, turning him into the scarecrow At the end Glinda and Elphaba hatch a plan to let her escape. The melting water scene. Elphaba and Glinda have one last moment together (singing For Good). Elphaba gives Glinda the Grimoire (book of magic) and leaves to be with Fieyro, The end. Oh turns out Elphaba is the Wizards' daughter.

My god my spelling mistakes! - but you get the jist.

Is the novel worth reading?

There is a trilogy I think, Definitely an interesting take on Oz

[quote] I cannot believe you have never sought out the freaking Wizard of Oz. It blows my mind. It's one of the most incredible, important and crucially most magical movies of all time.

[quote]I'm REALLY angry, [R34].

Call out the emergency repairman! Mary's Judy-o-meter has just EXPLODED!!

Reminder that Elphaba and Glinda are overemoting “For Good” while Dorothy is one floor down crying “I’m frightened, Auntie Em.”

Bowen Yang is last year's token gay. But they don't know his expiration date has passed.

I thought it sucked. Except for Jonathan Bailey. Songs weren't memorable. And there's a Part Two? No thanks.

Thanks r77. I recently saw the first novel in an airport bookstore and almost purchased it. Bought this instead. Just started The Emerald City of Oz.

I remember how excited I was to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when I was 5 or 6. It was so different from the MGM film.

Wicked has now outgrossed Jurassic World Dominion, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Finding Nemo, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in the US.

I just bought the first novel.

The paid advertisers who kept claiming that the movie made them cry and that it was the best ever were way over the top--but it was fun enough

I just rewatched Wicked in a packed theater almost a month after its release. Not only does the movie hold up extremely well on repeat viewings but my audience was fully engaged. No one was on their phones and everyone had a smile on their face. This movie is special.

Chick flick. Pass.

r82 there were several Baum OZ books - not just Wizard of Oz, but Ozma, the Tin woodsman, scarecrow, one about the emerald city.

Loved the movie - visually striking and the two leads held their own.

BUT don't go to see the Broadway production. I hated it, especially for one incredibly stupid moment (that should have been an act-ending show-stopper).

I ranted, "They can send a man to the moon. They can dive to the deepest depths of the ocean. They can split atoms. But they CAN'T FLY THE FUCKIN' WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST!!!!!"

Defying Gravity sung on a ladder draped in black cloth just doesn't cut it.

The Broadway production I saw was superior to the movie minus the cgi filled final scenes because obviously you can’t do that on a stage

I wish they would re-release the 1939 Oz with updated special f/x, CGI, etc.

R83, why would a non-musical Spider-Man cartoon be a good comp for Wicked, Part One? And you keep quoting domestic box office and ignoring that the international box office fell another 4 points this week. These blockbusters make a majority of their revenue at the international box office.

And R64, the entire industry has used the Barbie comp for Wicked - do you think 6 months worth of promotion culminating in at least 3 weeks of non-stop Wicked marketing with every combination of principal and supporting actor plus all the creatives, plus those huge lobby installations and themed drinks and all that public advertising comes for free? That marketing spend was probably more than the average 50% of the production budget - and they’ll do it all again next year. More spend. Studios don’t spend that kind of money unless they want to crack at least $1B worldwide. They definitely want to see Barbie numbers. Right now, the revenue the studio is seeing is about $285M - that’s nearing the production cost of both films, estimated to be “around” $300M, but I suspect post-production continues on For Good so that can’t be a final number. We definitely saw more than $100M marketing on Wicked; the marketing on Barbie which was a comparable inescapable blitz was confirmed to be $150M. That’s 150% of Barbie’s actual production budget. The Wicked spend could be equal to that at $150M or…up to $225M. So contrary to Optimistic Voices from The Wizard of Oz, they’re not quite out of the woods yet.

You fan gurls are such delicate flowers, everyone has to feel the same uncritical way you do or they’re your enemy. But let me tell you, when a piece of popular culture comes along that blankets every media outlet to the point of oppression, we’re allowed to have any conversation we want about it. The marketing for this Wicked film has been an absolute cultural steamroller - trying to convince us of its life-changing greatness, promoting that the entire LGBT+ community is “holding space” for Defying Gravity, with its stars indulging in all kinds of maudlin antics, etc. - that we have a right to scrutinise its corporate aims including its claims of box office success. Because you better believe, in order for it to be worth it, Wicked, Part One needs to do Barbie numbers and right now, despite the global rollout and marketing spend, the math ain’t mathing. Wicked is underperforming overseas, which bodes even worse for a Part Two next year. Ironically, in its own parlance, the Wicked movie is not defying gravity.

Hugs to you as you cry this out.

R74, it sounds like such a soap opera. I think I prefer just an episode of Bewitched.

They even tried to make “Glicked” happen, hoping for a mutually beneficial “Barbenheimer” uptake and I don’t think Wicked was the equivalent of Oppenheimer in that pairing. (Duh. In that equation it was supposed to be Barbie.)

I HATE the book it was based on, and I fundamentally dislike the films storyline. And it was very padded. As for this production, I admire all the artistry at every level, yet ... everything feels AI and emotionally saccharine, like an over enthusiastic elementary school play. Campy without the fun. I found Ariana and her extensive physical and plastic transformations very disturbing and distracting.

Tbh the whole backstory to the Wizard of Oz just sounds so stupid to me. I've never been interested in watching the play.

[quote]I wish they would re-release the 1939 Oz with updated special f/x, CGI, etc.

This sounds like my own private circle of Dante's Inferno.

Why would we fuck with one of the greatest (in my opinion, the greatest -- MARY!!!) films in American cinema history?

It's like "touching up" Shakespeare's Sonnets or Liszt's Transcendental Études.

r88 actually, when I was in high school, I found some of the old Oz books (in later editions) in a secondhand bookstore and decided to read the entire series -- the Baum-authored ones, anyway. I made it through all the books that I could find, including The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, and The Road to Oz. This was before the internet (or at least, before I was using the internet for shopping), and so I gave up my quest when I couldn't find any more books.

It's nice to now read The Emerald City of Oz, which it's all new to me.

One thing I liked was the casting of Michelle Yeoh. Her performance was much more understated than that of the Madame Morribles I've seen onstage, and it worked.

Agree, r99. I thought her performance was a highlight.

[quote]Wicked has now outgrossed Jurassic World Dominion, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Finding Nemo, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in the US.

Is the media is still pretending that WICKED is a smash hit even though the numbers don't add up?

6 weeks after release, WICKED has grossed $384 million domestic, which sounds impressive, but only $188 million foreign, with a total of $572 million.

Also, it had a production budget of $150 million, so it needed to cross $500 million to start making a profit, which it just did this past weekend.

But most likely, it won't cross $1 billion total, which it needed to in order to be a genuine hit.

It does not bode well for the sequel next year.

As for the aforementioned movies, this was their overall total compared to WICKED:

"FINDING NEMO" (2003) -- DOMESTIC: $339 million, FOREIGN: $531 foreign, TOTAL: $870 million

"LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING" (2003) -- DOMESTIC: $377 million, FOREIGN: $741 million, TOTAL: $1.118 billion

"STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH" (2005) -- DOMESTIC: $380, FOREIGN: $470 million, TOTAL: $850 million

"JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION" (2025) -- DOMESTIC: $376, FOREIGN: $625, TOTAL: $1.001 billion

"SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE" (2023) -- DOMESTIC: $381 million, FOREIGN: $309 million, TOTAL: $690 million

In the case of FINDING NEMO ($339 million), RETURN OF THE KING (377 million), and REVENGE OF THE SITH ($380 million), you have to consider inflation.

Thus, their respective domestic grosses in 2024 would be FINDING NEMO ($576 million), RETURN OF THE KING ($641 million), REVENGE OF THE SITH ($604 million).

r101 are your figures adjusted for inflation? Just curious.

Wicked deserves to make more money than the repulsive Barbie movie. It was far superior even with its flaws.

Now, still very early and things might change during the evening at US #BoxOffice, but right now #Wicked is challenging #Mufasa on MON grosses. Just INSANE, considering that #Wicked is on its 5th MON, with almost 1.000 less theatres and barely no PLF.

Holiday boost already in full swing and Wicked should be the blockbuster benefiting the most, potentially with the best hold from SUN if things remain on the current pace. Let’s see how the evening will play out though.

This week has it all to be CRAZY and unexpected!

[quote] Other than that, there wasn't a single hummable tune in the film.

That was my criticism of the stage musical 20 years ago. Apparently, that is no longer required for a smash hit musical.

What difference does it make if someone can hum a tune on the first listen? As Sondheim pointed out, people will hum a tune when it is repeated over and over.

The Broadway musical Wicked is a two-act show. This movie adaption has been made into two parts, the one out now, which is Broadway Act One ending with Elphaba’s big song Defying Gravity. The next film out will be Broadway Act Two. Hang on for the girls’ duet, the big song, For Good.

Adam McKay:

On a pure storytelling level Wicked Part 1 is right up there as one of the most radical big studio Hollywood movies ever made.

I know Part 2 swings back to the center a bit but Part 1 is nakedly about radicalization in the face of careerism, fascism, propaganda.

‘Don’t Look Up’ director Adam McKay says he “wouldn’t be surprised” if ‘Wicked’ will be banned in the next few years due to where America is headed for politically.

In both r108 and r109, Adam McKay sounds like a MARY!!!!

R2 I stopped watching Drinker when he edited a scene in Glass Onion 2 and lied about it, making it seem like Rian Johnson had made this huge mistake. Also, the scene was woke of course.

I can only assume he knew 85% of his audience hadn’t seen it.

He’s just another grifter and his novels are subpar.

IM SICK OF BOTH OF THOSE PINK/GREEN TWATS!

Please don't burn your house down!

Grande reminded me of how Paris Hilton must be.

OP “Was Glinda (pardon me - Galinda) supposed to be a narcissistic pain in the ass?

I didn't find any of the musical numbers memorable”

OP you didn’t study irony in school did ya?

Did you go to school at all?

Live it or hate it the big number is an ear-worm. (That means “catchy number btw…)

R115 You didn't study spelling, grammar, or punctuation in school, did ya?

"Live it" or hate it, the movie was a snooze.