Wicked : Part One (2024) [No 3D Blu-ray] [Digital only]

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

I realize that popular opinion is elevating this movie a bit higher than my subjective review. Perhaps it has potential for a Best Picture nominee. Perhaps I have the cynical heart of a grinch.

Elphaba lost me as a relatable realistic character when

[Show spoiler]she started her self-pity story about her sister's crippled legs being all her fault because her inexplicable green skin caused her father to force feed her mother flowers during her second pregnancy, which caused a premature birth, which caused her legs not to develop properly. Therefore, she deserves to be hated by her father.

Except that’s an absolutely real type of reaction that emotionally abused children have when

[Show spoiler]they get blamed for catastrophic shit by their parents that isn’t their fault, and can take many years of therapy to get over.

The movie does effectively prey on people's affection

[Show spoiler]for defenseless animals to make them 180-degree turn against the one-dimensional villains on a dime. That's low-hanging fruit and didn't touch my heart. Why are they plotting like dictators to make animals stop speaking (which they achieve by simply putting them in cages)? Because they are different? Because it's a metaphor for discrimination in real life? No other explanation?

Was hoping for something more.

Because, as was clearly explained in the film,

[Show spoiler]people need an enemy to increase the power of dictators who wish to rule over them, and the animals were a convenient scapegoat which served that function perfectly. The Nazi parallel works for me. As I said, I always appreciate a healthy anti-fascism message and I think it’s very effective within the framework of this story.

[swervin]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

Except that’s an absolutely real type of reaction that emotionally abused children have when they get blamed for catastrophic shit by their parents that isn’t their fault, and can take many years of therapy to get over.

Yeah well may be true but I think we need to leave all this stuff out of a movie. We all go to see a movie to get away from all this crap not to see more of it. PC stuff bothers me. Funny how all these liberal movie makers feel the need to add their agenda to a movie to make sure we see it even if we don't want to.

[BluBonnet]

Wow I think I just got my dose of hyperbole for the rest of the year and the first half of next year

[Nocturna]

this type of movie is mental illness on celluloid.

[3disciple]

Never a musical, Ariana or Wicked fan but I am a 3d fan and after watching this I might just be a fan of all 3.

Not being invested in any of the characters, lore or world I did struggle to get into it and fell asleep early on, the Hogwarts for Barbie theme wasn’t grabbing me. Both Glinda and elphaba seemed one note, superficial and obvious.

From the ‘hat dance’ onward though I was fully on board, that whole scene was beautifully done and sold the central friendship. Ariana especially brought surprising subtlety with her sadness with a smile, fluttering and sugar rush energy act.

I was expecting Bollywood-style song and dance numbers to break up the story, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the music fully integrated to the action. It worked well but I was disappointed that none of the tunes were particularly memorable. I thought the music would have been better but Defying Gravity is a belter and perfect way to close.

3d-wise it wasn’t great, from the Universal logo through to the fish in the river I thought it looked like being a good ‘medium' presentation but then they seemed to choke it down to mild for the duration save a few highlights. I’ve noticed this in quite a few films and I don’t know if its just my brain quickly adjusting to the visuals or a cynical strategy to reassure audiences they’re getting 3d when they put the specs on - only to take their foot off the gas after 5 minutes to save $$. I suspect the latter.

That being said I think it did benefit the film (slightly) and hope Turbine can work their magic, no reason to assume they won’t but when is a different matter.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Wow I think I just got my dose of hyperbole for the rest of the year and the first half of next year

The Swervinator is on my ignore list, for good reason obviously.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by 3disciple

Never a musical, Ariana or Wicked fan but I am a 3d fan and after watching this I might just be a fan of all 3.

Not being invested in any of the characters, lore or world I did struggle to get into it and fell asleep early on, the Hogwarts for Barbie theme wasn’t grabbing me. Both Glinda and elphaba seemed one note, superficial and obvious.

From the ‘hat dance’ onward though I was fully on board, that whole scene was beautifully done and sold the central friendship. Ariana especially brought surprising subtlety with her sadness with a smile, fluttering and sugar rush energy act.

I was expecting Bollywood-style song and dance numbers to break up the story, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the music fully integrated to the action. It worked well but I was disappointed that none of the tunes were particularly memorable. I thought the music would have been better but Defying Gravity is a belter and perfect way to close.

3d-wise it wasn’t great, from the Universal logo through to the fish in the river I thought it looked like being a good ‘medium' presentation but then they seemed to choke it down to mild for the duration save a few highlights. I’ve noticed this in quite a few films and I don’t know if its just my brain quickly adjusting to the visuals or a cynical strategy to reassure audiences they’re getting 3d when they put the specs on - only to take their foot off the gas after 5 minutes to save $$. I suspect the latter.

That being said I think it did benefit the film (slightly) and hope Turbine can work their magic, no reason to assume they won’t but when is a different matter.

It took me a bit to really get into it too, but it eventually grabbed me and didn’t let go. Agreed on the music, except for Defying Gravity, like you said, a real belter and my fave scene of the movie. The 3-D could definitely have been stronger, but that’s true of most Hollywood conversions — it’s pretty solid though overall I think.

[Hass]

Originally Posted by cuau_cg

I watch it in 3D at Cinepolis and it was very dark, but I'm sure it was the projector fault. I prefer to change to a later screening but without 3D to enjoy all the colors.

Cinépolis is supposed to have laser projection now but their RealD 3D showings still look very dark and washed out (and the trend of making movies dull and washed out doesn't help). If it was dark in IMAX I can't imagine it looking any good in RealD.

[Jbug]

Originally Posted by Hass

Cinépolis is supposed to have laser projection now but their RealD 3D showings still look very dark and washed out (and the trend of making movies dull and washed out doesn't help). If it was dark in IMAX I can't imagine it looking any good in RealD.

The Marcus Theater that I went to in Orland Park had a too dark picture also. At one point, I got up and found a manager to complain to. He said he would see about it but nothing changed. I hate that and will at least let them know it.

The movie was good but has a bit, too much singing. I don't like back to back songs either. The songs were not bad at all though. The 3D seemed to be good in that soup of darkness. Day time shots were very dull

[thatscifiguy]

I'm disappointed in your 3D impressions. It's not motivating me to brave it. How were the crowds? Were people singing? Because I have fear.

[Creed]

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

I saw Wicked yesterday, and it didn't quite live up to expectations. The story never hooked me. The characters all have a fourth-wall sense of self-awareness, like they are performing stereotypes in a Wizard of Oz parody, but nothing was ever funny. It was difficult to take their problems seriously. I was squirming in my seat for the last 30 minutes of the unnecessarily long runtime.

I did enjoy the songs. Some of them stuck in my head afterwards although they weren't attached to any strong emotions. Ariana Grande has a magnificently talented voice with incredible range, much greater than I realized from hearing her original music. A couple of the dance sequences were fun too. I've never seen it, but the choreography must have been inspired by the stage performance.

Their are a lot of complaints about the colors not being saturated enough and whites being boosted too high. These are a little overblown. The movie is still quite colorful and pleasant to look at, not ruined. But at the same time, there is a grain of truth here because nothing ever impresses like the bygone days of Technicolor or more recent classics like La La Land.

The 3D has nice depth but doesn't feel as designed for stereo as I had hoped. Most of the sets looked practical, and it's mainly the talking animals that are CGI. Frequently, unimportant background objects didn't receive enough rotoscoping and separation. That's easy to overlook, but disappointingly, only one of the pop-outs impressed,

[Show spoiler]one with Elphaba's hand toward the end

. Most of them are nerfed by either shallow depth of field or window violations. A lot of the particle effects are restrained, and any POV flying sequences have too many cuts for effective stereo immersion. I enjoyed the movie on a basic level for its singing and dancing, but it will never be a favorite of mine. It doesn't have the story, blocking, or visuals of a top tier movie musical, and I'd rather rewatch Jon Chu's Step Up 3D for a stereo feast.

Movie - 3/5
3D - 3/5

I wish I had the opportunity to watch Step Up 3D. If anything, Wicked's 3D reminds me over how much superior the 3D is in Raimi's Oz the Great and Powerful.

So. Much. Better. Tons of depth, gorgeous layering and fun frame breaks throughout. Plus, he definitely shot it with the format in mind.

[BleedOrange11]

Originally Posted by Creed

I wish I had the opportunity to watch Step Up 3D. If anything, Wicked's 3D reminds me over how much superior the 3D is in Raimi's Oz the Great and Powerful.

So. Much. Better. Tons of depth, gorgeous layering and fun frame breaks throughout. Plus, he definitely shot it with the format in mind.

Agreed, Wicked is "nice," but mostly feels like a 2D film that also works converted to stereo. The cinematography used too much shallow depth of field, which looks great in 2D, but it's usually better to dial that back for 3D. Whereas Oz, the Great and Powerful is shot in native stereo with 3D as the optimal projected format for every scene and has more movement on the z-axis.

I miss those years when so many studio movies were shot with 3D rigs. I'd say Deadpool & Wolverine is the only Hollywood movie shot for 3D this year (although there are a few I haven't seen, like Despciable Me 4), and that's mainly just in the VFX shots. In general, I think filmmakers are too afraid to do pop-outs, roller coaster moments, and slow motion. Work those into important story beats, and they won't feel corny. And every scene should be composed for 3D, not just 2-3 VFX setpieces.

[Interdimensional]

None of my usual options were offering 3D screenings for this title opening week. Not a good sign. Many, many 2d screenings to choose from. 4DX was my only choice for a 3D screening.

I was pretty happy with it. I'm sure I've seen better 3D, but it definitely enhanced the experience. If 3D screenings are still available, I would certainly recommend it. For some reason the sound was a bit muffled when I saw it. I could hear the whirring of the 4DX equipment. That was my biggest disappointment, and I think the songs suffered for it.

I hadn't seen the musical before, so it was all new to me. At times I found it a bit weird, and perhaps a little drawn out, and I didn't know where exactly where they were going with it, but it all comes together quite nicely. Tremendous talent on display, particularly costume design and dance choreography. I really enjoyed Jeff Goldblum's performance as the Wizard. He was wonderful, a true whiz of a wiz, if ever there was.

[Show spoiler]Almost a shame the story wants to paint him a villain, although perhaps no fascist can truly be effective without a certain amount of personal charm.

I wondered about the decision to split it into two films, but I thought it worked for part 1. Hopefully they have enough to work with to make a satisfying part 2.

[BLMN]

Originally Posted by Interdimensional

For some reason the sound was a bit muffled when I saw it. I could hear the whirring of the 4DX equipment. That was my biggest disappointment, and I think the songs suffered for it.

There is something going on with the mixing on the DCP, deluxe technicolor was sending notifications left and right to bump up the volume to at least 7.0 for Wicked.

[Freakyguy666]

One can only suspend disbelief so much to try and make a movie entertaining….I could buy all the fantastical things in this movie but to give it an emotional connection you have to buy into the fact that people in this fantastical world where everyone has some extremely unique quality, somehow the green tint of one person’s skin is just too much for the other crazy looking inhabitants to accept?!? Seriously? You want me to swallow that? Not happening.

FAIL.

[Dan_Shane]

Originally Posted by Freakyguy666

One can only suspend disbelief so much to try and make a movie entertaining….I could buy all the fantastical things in this movie but to give it an emotional connection you have to buy into the fact that people in this fantastical world where everyone has some extremely unique quality, somehow the green tint of one person’s skin is just too much for the other crazy looking inhabitants to accept?!? Seriously? You want me to swallow that? Not happening.

FAIL.

Oh, I dunno. There are plenty of crazy-looking and unique inhabitants in our world who seem to have an issue with skin color.

There are other reasons I'm not the target audience for this film, but that would not be one of them.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by Dan_Shane

There are other reasons I'm not the target audience for this film, but that would not be one of them.

The target audience for the film is already sold on the premise, the characters, the songs, etc. It is just like a beautiful film version of something many fans have already loved for many years.

[Just_Discovered_3D]

Originally Posted by BLMN

There is something going on with the mixing on the DCP, deluxe technicolor was sending notifications left and right to bump up the volume to at least 7.0 for Wicked.

Good to learn that sometimes when a movie's sound, well, sounds improper it is the movie's fault, and that theaters can take some measures to correct this.

Originally Posted by Freakyguy666

One can only suspend disbelief so much to try and make a movie entertaining….I could buy all the fantastical things in this movie but to give it an emotional connection you have to buy into the fact that people in this fantastical world where everyone has some extremely unique quality, somehow the green tint of one person’s skin is just too much for the other crazy looking inhabitants to accept?!? Seriously? You want me to swallow that? Not happening.

FAIL.

Seems to me that Elphaba should have been the Wicked Witch of the East, since her story was free to be written, and it wouldn't have to first create a sympathetic heroine and then explain how she becomes so irredeemably evil that audiences will cheer when she gets basically burned alive by Dorothy.


Looks like one theater near[ish] me still has this but I'm not sure about seeking it out as it's a dimmer theater in terms of projection and this seems like the kind of 3D that is tailored for a very bright venue (Ang Lee was not wrong in his rant).

[thatscifiguy]

Moana has taken over most of the 3d screens so this is already down to last chances. I have a ticket for Friday afternoon where mine is the only seat sold so far. I'm hoping for a private showing.

[Freakyguy666]

Originally Posted by Dan_Shane

Oh, I dunno. There are plenty of crazy-looking and unique inhabitants in our world who seem to have an issue with skin color.

There are other reasons I'm not the target audience for this film, but that would not be one of them.

Really? You actually saw the movie and you equate the variety of humans in the real world to the vastly fantastical range of humanoids in the movie? On what planet do you live exactly, because it’s not earth!