“Wicked” is far from bad, but even further from good. A movie that earned a revenue of  $723.5 million worldwide, has now been labeled as the highest-grossing musical film and the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2024. But how come? 

“Wicked” first appeared as a book by Gregory Maguire in 1995 based on the incredibly popular “Wizard of Oz.” It later evolved into an award-winning musical in 2003, and most recently has materialized as a major motion picture, which garnered four nominations at the Golden Globes.

The story follows the infamous Wicked Witch of the West and how exactly she became so “wicked”, and the role her newfound friendship with her counterpart, the Good Witch of the East, plays in this change. 

Yet watching the movie was a far from pleasant experience. It was two hours too long, full of questionable casting and a disappointing ending. 

My first and most important critique is its run time. The movie has the potential for an enthralling plot with an interesting cast of characters, but its tiring length overshadows its storyline. 

The 2024 adaptation runs for two hours and 40 minutes. This would be acceptable, considering the original musical runs for the same amount of time. However, the movie only encompasses the first half of its storyline, with part two set to release in November 2025. 

Drawing an hour and 15 minutes of content into twice its length is already a challenging endeavor, but something that the movie’s producers unfortunately, took on. They, in accomplishing this task, failed to keep it engaging and left a slow-moving, boring, and unmemorable blur.   

There was no surprise when I discovered that the original cut of the movie was rumored to be five hours long, which honestly explained a lot. 

Many parts of the movie felt stitched together like a Frankenstein-style script, and the flow was off. It felt like there were missing scenes, which is impressive considering that there were about 10 too many scenes in the movie already. 

Another drawback of the movie’s length was its interesting contrast in pacing. Some parts were rushed and others were slowed. There was too much focus on certain elements and it drew away from character development. 

 The lack of evolution in the relationship of the two leads came directly from the movie’s strange pace. There was definitely development, but it felt like the leads, played by Ariana Grande (Glinda) and Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), were mortal enemies one moment and friends the next. 

According to US Weekly, a lot of scenes between the two leads were cut, explaining that rushed feeling. This movie would be much more enjoyable if it focused on the lead’s relationship more than side stories with minor characters like Nessarose and Boq. I acknowledge they’re both important to develop for part two, but it drew away from who is meant to be the focus of this story.

As per adaptation and movie culture, there were many celebrities in this cast, most likely selected with the intention of widening the audience. Grande did well in her role, but other actors’ talents were clearly in the acting part and less in the singing part. 

Both Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible) and Jeff Goldblum (Wizard) are phenomenal actors with incredible careers. They both have given astonishing performances in the past and have incredible range, acting-wise, but a lot less so singing-wise. 

The ending was good, but also disappointing. Although the movie is the first of a duology, the ending is incredibly important to keep fans engaged for the next part. And I do think it was one of the best parts of the movie, with Erivo’s performance of “Defying Gravity” by far being the highlight of the film.

However, the ending felt as if nothing had been resolved. The movie introduced so many problems and so many storylines, and there was no sense of conclusion after almost three hours of build-up. 

Although it is part one, there is a way to end on a cliffhanger while also keeping a feeling of conclusion and satisfaction. Take “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” last year’s most engaging cliffhanger. The “Spider-Verse” movie featured part one of a larger story while also leaving a sense of conclusion, something “Wicked” failed to do. 

Now, I’d like to acknowledge, with all my critiques, that it’s just an opinion I developed after seeing the movie with no idea of its time, story, or plot. I have never been a “Wicked” fan and am generally not the main target audience for this movie, so my commentary should be taken with a grain of salt. But that perspective allows me to see the very clear problems with the movie that long-term fans are ignoring. 

Overall, I think my greatest issue with the film is how decisively I am in the minority group for disliking it. The movie objectively has many problems that I’m shocked others don’t see, fueling my dislike. 

I feel as if others have watched a completely different film, and the one I saw was two hours too long, with questionable singing and a choppy script. So please, help me find this award-winning musical that changed lives, because I appear to have lost it somewhere.