No One Mourns the Wicked: A movie review of "Wicked"

(Review)

By: Alexis Rosa

The advertisement for this movie was just as impressive as the movie. You couldn’t go

anywhere without seeing this movie plastered on a billboard or in a commercial for a

product. Even if you didn’t see this movie, you saw something about it. That’s how much

impact this movie had. Sometimes when things get over advertised it makes you want to

roll your eyes and not indulge in what they are shoving in your face. I never felt that about

‘Wicked’ and it deserved all the praise it got.

‘Wicked’ was released on November 22, 2024. Just in time for the holiday season. It was

released by Universal Pictures. The summary for ‘Wicked’ on IMDB is ‘Elphaba, a young

woman ridiculed for her green skin, and Glinda, a popular girl, become friends at Shiz

University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their

friendship reaches a crossroads”.

The movie’s runtime is two hours and forty minutes, when I was in the theater watching the

movie, it didn’t even feel like it was that long. They set the pace perfectly and the songs

broke up the movie the right way. The movie is described as fantasy and a musical.

‘Wicked’ was originally a Broadway show that was released in 2003. It’s a prequel to the

story of The Wizard of Oz. It has a ‘PG’ rating. It was directed by Jon M. Chu who was picked

up by William Morris Agency right out of the school he studied at USC School of Cinema-

Televison, and who has been attached to several high-profile projects according to IMDB. It

was written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox who also produced it.

This was a star- studded cast. It starred Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jeff Goldblum as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Michelle Yeoh as Madama Morrible, and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero. Cynthia and Ariana took the show away though.

‘Wicked’ had 300 nominations and 112 wins for awards, two of those wins were Oscar’s.

They won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Production Design and Best Achievement in

Costume Design. Cynthia and Ariana got nominated at the Oscar’s for Best Performanceby an Actress in a Leading Role and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

but unfortunately weren’t the winners, still a huge honor. All these nominations and

awards just prove how beautiful this movie was. Everything got nominated for different

awards the actors, the costumes, the production so overall a lot of time and effort went

into this movie.

I have never seen ‘Wicked’ on Broadway before but have heard many things about it over

the years. I always loved the movie ‘The Wizard of Oz’ so I was always intrigued by the story

of ‘Wicked’. When I first started seeing trailers for this, I immediately knew I wanted to see

it in the theaters. I was mesmerized the second the movie started. I was so glad this was

my first experience with the story. You could tell everyone who worked on this movie really

wanted to showcase the Broadway show but bring new perspective to it. I really did love

everything about it.

The visuals were amazing. They really brough that Wizard of Oz feel but made it modern.

Everything was so colorful and fresh looking. The set designs were stunning to me. Shiz

University and Emerald City were breathtaking on screen. The costumes were awesome to

look at. There were so many details in Glinda’s wardrobe especially that I fell in love with.

Cynthia and Ariana really embraced their characters. You could see the love and passion

they had for these characters through their performances.

Their chemistry was perfect and it really shined on the screen. You were rooting for both their characters in the story because they brought them to life so beautifully. I can’t wait to see them again on the big screen. I think the casting was perfect. They couldn’t have picked better people to play Elphaba and Glinda. Their singing voices are just the cherry on top. Both of them have unique different voices that meshed well together.

My mom, 47, who does not go to the movies often said, ‘I’m glad I saw this on the big

screen, what an amazing production’. She was entertained the whole time and really

thought Cynthia’s performance took the show away. She loved the costumes as well. She

was unhappy with the ending until I told there was a sequel and more story to tell. She

can’t wait for part two to come out. We bonded over this movie and I’m glad I got to see it

with her.

The worldwide gross for this movie was 735,122,460 with a meta score of 73 from critics.

All that advertising paid off! Seriously this movie deserved all the success it received. It’s

one of those movies that will be talked about for a long time. There was a huge impact.

Even though you can look at this as a remake it stood on its own. It gave a fresh perspective

and brought in a new audience to the classic tale of ‘Wicked’.If you are someone who appreciates musicials this really is the perfect movie for you.

This has everything that makes a musical worth watching – great songs and strong voices. You also want to listen to the soundtrack even after seeing the movie since it’s that good. Even if you don’t dabble in musicals any movie lover would appreciate this movie. The visuals,

the script, and the acting is something worth watching. I also think if you loved the tale of

“The Wizard of Oz’ you’ll equally love this movie, it shares the same charm.

Universal Pictures released ‘Wicked’ in theaters on November 22nd, 2024. It is finally

coming to streaming platforms this month. You will be able to start streaming it exclusively

on the app Peacock on March 21st, 2025. There will be a sing-along version released

alongside it and Peacock will also provide bonus content for the movie. You can also rent

or buy the film on Prime Video and Apple TV+.

There is a sequel coming out titled ‘Wicked: For Good’ on November 21st, 2025. Jon M.Chu will be directing again with Cynthina and Ariana coming back as Elphaba and Glinda. We will have to see if part two of this story holds up like this movie did! I can’t wait to rewatch this one on Peacock!

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