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Movie Review: WICKED (2024)
Little people dressed as winged bellhops are far more terrifying than a sky dotted with CG flying Caesars
WICKED (2025) Jon M. Chu / Screenplay: Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox / Novel: Gregory Maguire, the origins of which scream L. Frank Baum / Photography: Alice Brooks (2.39 : 1) / Design: Nathan Crowley / Music: John Powell & Stephen Schwartz / Costumes: Paul Tazewell / Distributor: Universal Pictures /Starring: : Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Kristin Chenoweth, Peter Dinklage, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, Idina Menzel, Ethan Slater, Sharon D. Clarke, Adam James, Keala Settle, Bronwyn James, and Bowen Yang. 160 min.
They sure do grow their Munchkins large in this unofficial, at times painfully woke musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz, told from the point of view of the witches, Wicked Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Good Glinda (Ariana Grande). The characters and situations are ingrained since birth, the messages — there's no place like home/everyone deserves a chance to fly — simple and similar, hence the mass appeal. Warner Bros. owns the rights to the M-G-M original, leaving Universal unable to reference the 1939 version lest the running time expand to include an epilogistic courtroom battle. The studio went so far as to engage an on-set copyright wizard to verify that nothing was accidentally “borrowed.” (If anyone has cause to cry infringement, it’s the designers behind Candy Crush Saga.) What kept me going was watching the mindful screenwriters tiptoe through the minefield of intellectual property while managing to smuggle in points of reference: a cowardly lion cub replaces Toto in the wicker basket of Miss Gulch's bicycle; bewitched flowers knockout a classroom quicker than a heroin-induced poppy field felled Dorothy and the boys, yesterday’s Emerald City is today’s Universal CityWalk. Newfangled effects can’t compare: blue monkeys, little people dressed as winged-bellhops, are far more terrifying than a sky dotted with CG flying Caesars. Erivo proves there's nothing scarier than a smart, colored woman with super powers, while given her computer-generated appearance, Grande blends right in. Jon Chu doesn’t so much direct as he gives the appearance of busyness.
Rating: **
Here's something you might be interested in.
Movie Review: WICKED (2024)
Little people dressed as winged bellhops are far more terrifying than a sky dotted with CG flying Caesars
Movie Review: WICKED (2024)
Little people dressed as winged bellhops are far more terrifying than a sky dotted with CG flying Caesars
WICKED (2025) Jon M. Chu / Screenplay: Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox / Novel: Gregory Maguire, the origins of which scream L. Frank Baum / Photography: Alice Brooks (2.39 : 1) / Design: Nathan Crowley / Music: John Powell & Stephen Schwartz / Costumes: Paul Tazewell / Distributor: Universal Pictures /Starring: : Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Kristin Chenoweth, Peter Dinklage, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, Idina Menzel, Ethan Slater, Sharon D. Clarke, Adam James, Keala Settle, Bronwyn James, and Bowen Yang. 160 min.
They sure do grow their Munchkins large in this unofficial, at times painfully woke musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz, told from the point of view of the witches, Wicked Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Good Glinda (Ariana Grande). The characters and situations are ingrained since birth, the messages — there's no place like home/everyone deserves a chance to fly — simple and similar, hence the mass appeal. Warner Bros. owns the rights to the M-G-M original, leaving Universal unable to reference the 1939 version lest the running time expand to include an epilogistic courtroom battle. The studio went so far as to engage an on-set copyright wizard to verify that nothing was accidentally “borrowed.” (If anyone has cause to cry infringement, it’s the designers behind Candy Crush Saga.) What kept me going was watching the mindful screenwriters tiptoe through the minefield of intellectual property while managing to smuggle in points of reference: a cowardly lion cub replaces Toto in the wicker basket of Miss Gulch's bicycle; bewitched flowers knockout a classroom quicker than a heroin-induced poppy field felled Dorothy and the boys, yesterday’s Emerald City is today’s Universal CityWalk. Newfangled effects can’t compare: blue monkeys, little people dressed as winged-bellhops, are far more terrifying than a sky dotted with CG flying Caesars. Erivo proves there's nothing scarier than a smart, colored woman with super powers, while given her computer-generated appearance, Grande blends right in. Jon Chu doesn’t so much direct as he gives the appearance of busyness.
Rating: **
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