Wicked: Part I (2024)
Genre: Music / Fantasy
Duration: 160 minuten
Alternative title: Wicked
Country:
United States / Japan / Canada / Iceland / United Kingdom
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jeff Goldblum
IMDb score:
7,3 (222.690)
Releasedate: 20 November 2024
Wicked: Part I plot
"Everyone deserves the chance to fly."
Elphaba can be recognized by her green skin. She is good friends with the spoiled rich girl and good fairy Glinda. A local prince and the haunted wizard of Oz also cross her path. Elphaba is a political activist who fights for justice and wants to right the wrongs of the past. As dark secrets and personal dramas plague the world of Oz, Elphaba grows into the wicked witch of the west everyone knows.
Social Media
Actors and actresses
Elphaba
Galinda / Glinda
Madame Morrible
Fiyero
Boq
Nessarose
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Dr. Dillamond (voice)
Governor Thropp
Mrs. Thropp
Reviews & comments
mrklm
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- 11374 messages
- 9897 votes
Prequel to The Wizard Of Oz reveals that Glinda [Ariana Grande], the good witch from the North, and Elphaba [Cynthia Erivo], the evil witch from the West, used to be best friends. Because of her green skin, Elphaba is the target of ridicule from the moment she arrives at Shiz University. The biggest bully is (ironically) G(a)linda, an arrogant, vain woman who, after a hollow gesture of empathy, suddenly becomes Elphaba's best friend. When Elphaba receives an invitation from The Wizard Of Oz [Jeff Goldblum], to her great surprise, she asks G(a)linda to go with her. The visit is the first step towards the inevitable split that will take further shape in part 2. The budget of approximately $150 million was spent mainly on costumes, makeup and the impressive sets. But the first part is mostly hot air with unnecessary, bombastic songs that are mainly supposed to keep young viewers with a limited attention span awake and offer adults a good moment for a pee break. Erivo is fine in the lead role and Goldblum is perfectly cast as the eccentric Wizard. Grande is less well-developed and Chu's extras direction is a bit too much (everyone is constantly pointing at Elphaba with their mouths wide open). Only when the action moves to Oz does the story get going and the contours emerge for what seems to be a dark (and hopefully better) sequel.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 14514 messages
- 4510 votes
Only towards the very end does the film become a bit more fun, actually when theyenter Emerald City. The songs also get better then. Before that it's all very bland and dull. I really can't remember a single song after that. The story itself is quite nice as are the themes and the question of what is good and evil, but the film is simply a bit boring and dull. The direction doesn't help either because the musical moments are very simplistically captured with a camera that occasionally moves from left to right and that's it. Only that song at the library (?) in a round tube is visually nice. The production design is okay (that train is very beautiful for example) and the acting is not annoying but not very special either. 160 minutes is a lot but because the film became more and more fun towards the end it was still quite watchable. 2.5*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
rep_robert
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- 27517 messages
- 4082 votes
Wicked has been a huge hit in the musical landscape for years. This all passed me by, also because it simply does not interest me. So I went into this film quite blank.
Before the opening credits you have to listen to Grande squealing for about 10-15 minutes. It's horrible. I was also afraid that every line of dialogue would be sung. Luckily that was somewhat less of a problem after the opening credits rolled.
Wicked is a fairy tale set in a beautiful universe of the land of Oz and the many grandiose sets steal the show in this film. The origin story between the two ladies is also effectively worked out, but that is only fair with this enormous playing time.
The songs are also very catchy and Grande didn't get on my nerves after a while. Every now and then she came out nicely stupid to keep it light. However, with musicals like this I always find it too long-winded. The songs last too long for me and take the pace out of the film. Usually I've had enough after a minute and then they continue for minutes. No different here. Very tiring and the film has 60 minutes of hot air in a 160-minute film. And to be honest... In the film it works catchy, but the songs really do nothing for me. As far as I'm concerned, they could have spent the time better on setting up the world. Why are animals the scapegoat? And apart from a few random moments with the goat professor, hardly any attention is paid to this, while it is an important element.
But that is often the problem with musicals. With a little less attention to singing and dancing and more attention to developing a plot and you actually have a good film.
I enjoyed myself very much. I also understand the attraction. Only because of all the singing and dancing the film lasts too long for me and the plot does not get the attention it deserves. Part 2 is welcome. But I will never be a fan.
Translated from Dutch · View originalPre- and sequels
Wicked: For Good
2025
3 comments
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