cynthia-erivo – Popped!

Release date: November 21, 2025 (USA)

Director: Jon M. Chu

Running time: 2h 17m

Adapted from: Wicked, The Wizard of OZ

MPAA rating: PG

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

This one pains me….shall we get into it? Let’s Discuss!

If you’ve been here a while, you may know I was expecting this to be in my top 10 of 2025.

Let’s review my 9s thus far, quickly. Sarah’s Oil, Christy & Soul On Fire – My most recent 9’s all hit me in the feels. Elanor, Honey Don’t & One Battle After Another – Great pacing with storytelling and impact of experience.

Top 10 list 9s – F1, Life Of Chuck & Bring Her Back – Movies that impacted their genre. Had a powerful emotional impact within me or had powerful meanings behind their storytelling that sat with me.

There’s more, but hopefully you get my point from the type of experiences I felt / had while watching these movies. Sinners, The Surfer & Last Breath included. Shoot Ne Zha 2 I still talk about to this day.

I re-watched Wicked Part 1 on Sunday. Monday, I re-watched the original Wizard of Oz. Tonight I got to see Wicked For Good. It’s not like I’m remembering part 1 from last year or some time ago. Watching Wicked, then Wicked For Good, you’d think I’d be ready and connected to all the characters…. so why did the feeling feel off for almost an hour?

The intro felt like an action movie. Felt disjointed and rough. I loved the grand sets and musical performances in part 1 so much that I’ve watched it 3 times and love it. The quality didn’t feel as grand across each musical number this time around. For some, yes. But not for quite some time.

(Stopped to re-read my Part 1 “Review”) – WoW, it had that impactful experience which can be felt in the words. Anywho. Let’s get back to Part 2.

Let’s get to the point of my concerns, shall we? The pacing felt off. Where moments could have been elaborated or enjoyed being in the moment a little more. You’re whisked away to the next scene. Next setup or attempting to contain this part 2 within a certain time to contain the remainder story.

I’d loved to have had 20-30 more minutes. Let’s chat in the comments, spoilers if you want to know where and why. Tin Man was done right, but the others. Well, you saw the majority of the lion scenes in the trailer… I’m not going to rant about the other. Solid human performance and that’s that.

Would you watch a remake of The Wizard of Oz? Because honestly, it mostly lives up still. But part 2 is going to miss a massive freaking story plot off camera! There’s room for it to be done. Maybe then Part 3? It would fix the pacing and story as a whole. But they could have just added those scenes into Part 2. It’s a real shame, but watching part 2 tonight, I kept hoping to get out of the 8’s. I’d love to re-watch this title…..but it doesn’t get a 9 for me personally, and that pains me.

Popped score of 8.5/10 for Wicked For Good…. as much as it pains me, this just felt off in too many areas. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and I’ll be watching out over this weekend if I’m alone or others feel like this didn’t live up to / hit the same bar as Part 1 did.

Oscars will be a hard decision in so many categories. If K-pop Demon Hunters take music? Ne Zha 2 Animated. I can see Cynthia Erivo as my best actress & Ariana Grande as Supporting Actress?

Have you started thinking of your choices yet?

With that though everyone, as this gets rather long. Thank you all for coming to Popped for your movie “Reviews”. Even when tough choices need to be made. You can rely on Popped to make those hard decisions and go off my personal viewing experiences. To give you those #’s :D. Painful or not. Hits & Misses. I’ll be doing this next year and going deeper yet.

Thank you all again! Happy Movie Going. Fellow Movie Goers :D.

Release date: November 22, 2024 (USA)

Director: Jon M. Chu

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Adapted from: Wicked, The Wizard of OZ

Budget: $145–150 million

Cinematography: Alice Brooks

I enjoyed the play many moons ago pre-COVID. I’ve watched and enjoyed The Wizard of OZ several times. So it’s awesome to finally be in a timeline where Wicked has been created into a theatrical movie.

I’d like to start by reminding people that Wicked is a musical. I just didn’t want anyone to be surprised when going in to watch this movie. Although comparing the length of this movie to Joker, this felt to have the same or slightly less music. (I’d like to have had more music, which I’ll get into later.)

The Wicked movie is told from the perspective of our two witches, Elphaba (Played by Cynthia Erivo) & Galinda (Played by Ariana Grande). Setting up the movie we start with Galinda, Munchkin Land, and the death of the Wicked Witch of the East. The story begins by highlighting the fact that Dorothy has arrived in OZ. This story travels back to prior times introducing Elphaba from conception, her childhood including introducing her sister, and then how Elphaba & Galinda became friends with one another in school.

You’re watching a musical so let’s begin with that, shall we? It’s awesome! Countless good songs throughout this 2-hour and 31-minute spectacular (Skip the non-post-credit scene crawl unless you’re enjoying the music). My most remembered songs going into the film were fantastic and knocked each performance out of the park. I may even lock this title in for the Oscars for Best Production & Costume Design. Some of the music was elevated by these two categories making the scene/s stand out and worth re-watching.

As usual, I’ll keep story spoilers away and touch on brief topic matters despite being based on the Wicked Broadway play. This theatrical release incorporates a book that I never read.

I found it fascinating the history on animals and how much this played into the storyline of Wicked. Maybe I missed this while watching the play but it gave so much grounded development to Elphaba and strengthening her decisions and choices that leads her to become who she is later on.

I’m a real underdog supporter in movies so to incorporate this, I was totally enthralled. I have so many notes to discuss however I just want you to go out and experience this movie for yourself. (Caveat – You’re watching a musical remember. Don’t want any surprises like Joker now) If you’re not a fan of musicals this maybe a hard watch despite the incredible performances from the entire cast.

Something that stands out early is the chemistry felt between Elphaba & Galinda, something truly magical and that captivates throughout. I had a moment of emotional swirl get me during a scene, helping with the long run time. When you start to feel the movie length you’re heading into the final act which feels to go by in an instant due to how good it is. I’m ready to re-watch again and could have sat another 3 hours watching Part 2.

I’m not sure about movie of the year however do checkout my top 10 list which has shifted somewhat with this release. I may have to re-watch Dune 2 as it’ll be bumped off the list which doesn’t seem right but it’s a strong 8.5 almost 9 so we’ll see by year end.

With that giant hint, I’m giving Wicked Part 1 a Popped score of 9/10. Worthy of a Blu-ray purchase and definitely a multi-re-watch.

Out of the big 3 to end November I’d say this is the clear winner. (Despite not seeing Moana 2 yet so let’s see next week if that stance changes) – Thank you all for coming by Popped for your movie “review” and looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments.

Did you check out Wicked yet? What’s your top 10 looking like in comparison? Let us know before the next popped batch of “Reviews”.

Tag: cynthia-erivo

Wicked: For Good “Review”

Wicked Part 1 “Review”