Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread — Page 86

DiscoCrows said: "JudyDenmark said: "For those who have seen it already - have you dealt with much singing along in the theaters? Seeing it tonight and that NYT article from yesterday has me worried…"

I have seen it twice in public screenings in NYC. My screening yesterday in Times Square was definitely a bit morecheer-heavy (moderate applauses after the bigger numbers and moments) but that’s as far as it went. No singing at all."

Ok that’s great to hear, thank you! I’m all for an enthusiastic audience, just not a selfish one haha. Seeing it in Times Square tonight which is not exactly my dream location, but had to go with what worked, and that factor especially has been making me second-guess. Excited to finally see this thing!

SweetLips22 said: "What does that even mean? I gave my honest opinion, OK?"

SweettLips - can I ask where you saw the film? Of course, your opinion is your opinion, but some of what you describe sound like sound/picture issues in the theatre you saw the film in. I've seen the film a few times, and honestly wouldn't describe the colors as dull or the dialogue as murky.

The supporting cast made less of an impact than I would have imagined. They often cut away from those actors' coverage to show Cynthia or Ariana's reactions. One actor was quite clearly a weak link

I went to a late screening of the movie in 4DX last night and that was a trip. I'd never done a 4DX screening but it was like being on a ride at Universal studios. Quite a few scenes I thought since there were no seatbelts for these moving seats, some little old lady would fly out and break her neck. Water squirting out at you and smoke being distributed throughout the auditorium with scents piped in to mirror what was happening on screen. Pretty wild.

Updated On: 11/21/24 at 01:36 PM

Count me in the crowd who is cheering to the rafters! Finally a musical film created by someone who absolutely loves that it's a musical. Scene after scene builds to a heart-leaping high between music, dance and camera moves.

It really is Cynthia's movie with everyone else including Arianna there to support the leading lady. And Erivo is magnificent-- full of subtlety and unexpected quietness mixed with gorgeous pyrotechnics. And every word out of her mouth is clear as a bell. Arianna Grande can be a bit one-note acting-wise, and her diction while singing is troublesome. But emotionally she brings perfect energy to the push/pull between the 2 girls. And cheers for Jonathan Bailey, who gives us the most gender-queer Fiyero I've ever seen-- he's pure seduction onscreen. Oh, and fans of Idina and Kristen will NOT be disappointed by their participation an hour or two in! Sorry to say, only Michelle Yeoh seems not to know what kind of film she's in-- her Madame Morrible barely registers among all these heavy hitters.

Visually, did I have some issues? Well yes. I wish the production designer had been held to some discipline in his design choices -- often there was just too much muchness crowding the screen. The color timing was really in need of a major boost-- why did they refuse to give us the technicolor rainbow the material demands? And I could have done with a few less CG enhancements to gild every lily ("I'm Not That Girl" was gorgeous on its own without needing to see iridescent flowers opening and closing around Elphaba.)

So cheers for John Chu and company. Can't wait for Act 2 in a year. Please oh please give him the reigns for a HADESTOWN film, or a FOLLIES, or a RAGTIME while the iron is hot.

Updated On: 11/21/24 at 04:11 PM

I just got out of a local matinee, small crowd no cheers or disturbance. Until “To be continued” popped up and someone said “you gotta be kidding” lol

I thought it was pretty great. Defying Gravity is thrilling. What is this Feeling and Dancing thru Life are the standouts for me—Jon Chu really knows how to do a production number (which we knew from 96,000). Jonathan Bailey makes Fiyero so bisexual and I’m here for it. Cynthia is outstanding. Ariana I thought was a little flat acting wise but still good.


I love how the act structure is pre fiyero, fiyero, post fiyero. I thought act 3 was the only one where I felt the padding.

berniesb!tch said: "Saw it in IMAX tonight. It was perfection. I will post more in the morning but all I can say now is

The scene of Ariana and Cynthiadancing together in the Oz dust ballroom is one of the most beautiful and touching scenes I’ve seen in a movie in a while."

I couldn’t agree more. I still get chills just thinking about it. I feel like that scene alone earned them both noms for awards. Perfection.

I saw it today. Loved it! All the hype is true. The movie is magnificent and breathtaking! Wonderful performances by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. The sets and costumes are jaw-dropping. I predict lots of Oscar nominations. The best movie musical in decades!

Finally saw this earlier this afternoon. Boy did those almost 3 hours fly rapid fast - the film felt like 45 minutes.

I will admit, the opening Prologue was painful to sit thru but Grande made it work. Once the WICKED Part 1 wording came on the screen, the film switched on and the rest just flew on by. I agree with everyone else's raves on Erivo and Grande - talk about embodying their characters and every single person on that screen was perfectly cast. Yeoh's Madame Morrible was refreshing as her deadpanning was the way to play it. Playing her as she's done on stage would have totally thrown off the balance and Goldblum was born to play The Wizard. I'm not going to repeat the same things others have been saying but yes, THIS is definitely one of the best film adaptations of a Broadway musical ever done and I think the stage version just lost one returning audience member as this film adaptation is the WICKED I will prefer to see from now on. Having seen WICKED about 5 times since it made its debut on Broadway, today I understood it more than I did those 5 times watching the stage version. Can't wait for the Special Edition 4K disc release.

Just got out and let me tell you it’s magical. I didn’t want the movie to end. Cynthia, Ari, Michelle, Jeff…wow

Highlights: Wizard and I, Dancing through Life (the ozdust scene was amazing and Jon deserves an Oscar just for that), and Defying Gravity

Absolutely go see this on the big screen. 10 out of 10

I don't think I'm quite in much in love as many of you, but I really enjoyed the heck out of it.



Dancing through Life was absolutely worth the price of admission alone. I have never cared for AG, but found her to be delightful. Erivo sounded amazing, but I found some of her acting choices a bit...safe, but by no means bad. Loved JBailey (Fiyero) and Michelle Yeoh were real standouts for me, I got really excited each time they returned. (To be fair, I'm a big fan of both of them.)

I look forward to seeing this again when it hits whatever streaming service lands it (I'm assuming Amazon since they already had a tie in for early screenings), and will most definitely be getting Tix for part 2 next year.

I won't go into positive detail, as you've all handled it already. Superb film.

My only issues was with Michelle Yeoh. 100% miscast. She took what can be an absolutely haunting role with a whiplash character twist and made it all feel so.... Mundane.

No vocals. No great delivery of her 'Citizens of Oz' monologue during the Defying Gravity sequence. Bleh.

I also wasn't the biggest fan of Grande, as a lot of her vocal felt like a mimic of Cheno and her acting choices killed some of the better bits that Glinda has.

No one will sell the comedy of that role better than Megan Hilty. To me, she was incredibly funny, incredibly serious and had the combo of a strong belt and beautiful upper register. Hilty's 'Thank Goodness' was a masterclass.

Updated On: 11/21/24 at 11:58 PM

JudyDenmark said: "My only beef was not with the movie, but clearly the format I saw it in. We saw it in 3D/AMC Laser and visually it was spectacular, but I felt a little cheated sound-wise. Like I really wanted to be bathed in sound, and for my watch to tell me I was in too loud an environment, and instead kept wishing they'd turn it up; it sounded a little distant."

I had a similar experience. I loved the movie, but the sound seemed low and poorly mixed in my theatre. I’m listening to the soundtrack now and it’s night and day.