I’ve been reflecting on the big-budget movies released this year, and it’s shocking how few of them actually looked good visually. It’s ironic that in a time when technology has advanced so much, films are looking worse than ever. Wicked is yet another victim of this trend, losing so much of its potential because of how it looks.

Filmmaking is a combination of all the arts, and visuals are an essential part of that magic. Unfortunately, Wicked offers very little in that regard. The color grading feels soulless, the lighting is flat, the framing lacks creativity, and the CGI and visual effects are underwhelming. Emerald City, in particular, is a huge letdown—it looks terrible, lacking the charm and wonder it should evoke.

It’s especially ironic given the director’s recent comments in an interview. When asked about the muted color palette, he explained that he wanted to keep the colors “normal” to make the story feel “real.” Real? In a story where animals talk, a person is literally green, and magic rules the land? The logic doesn’t hold, and it’s even more ironic because the poor CGI completely breaks the immersion he was trying to achieve. By the third act, the visuals are so distracting they take you out of the story entirely. Respectfully, the justification doesn’t feel genuine—it seems more like a cover for a rushed or poorly executed post-production process.

All these choices make the film look like something out of a recent Disney release—one of the ones plagued by the same CGI pandemic. The runtime doesn’t help, either. At nearly two and a half hours, the pacing becomes sluggish by the two-hour mark, making the experience feel drawn out.

There’s still hope for Part 2, which is set to release next year. With more time to refine the post-production, perhaps they can address these issues and deliver a more polished film. For now, though, Wicked feels like a missed opportunity—a story full of magic and wonder that deserved far better than what it was given visually.

• 2024 Ranked