Wicked First Reviews: “Everything a Movie Musical Should Be” 

No one will mourn the Wicked movie, as the Broadway musical adaptation is bound to be a big hit at the box office. The first reviews of the Wizard of Oz prequel also assure fans that it’s a worthy cinematic treatment, possibly even better than the long-running stage version. They especially applaud the performances by leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. However, there are some complaints about the length of the film, especially considering that it’s only one part of the whole story. Nevertheless, the film is not only already Certified Fresh, but thanks to early screenings, also Verified Hot!

Here’s what critics are saying about Wicked:

How does it compare to the Broadway show?

Bigger and better.
— Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald

The film is still garishly overstuffed, but gloriously so… Instead of feeling bloated, Wicked has found its ideal form.
— Peter Debruge, Variety

Wicked will delight fans of the stage production as a faithful adaptation.
— Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times

If you found Wicked on stage too girly or frothy for your taste, or too emphatic in its messaging about otherness being a convenient target for rising fascism, you will likely feel the same about the movie.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)

Will fans of musicals enjoy it?

Wicked might be one of the most beautiful and ambitious movie musicals we’ve seen in years, one that rivals some of the best of the Old Hollywood era.
— Kristen Lopez, Kristomania

It’s just about everything a movie musical should be.
— Rafer Guzman, Newsday

Unlike several recent tuners, which tried to hide their musical dimension from audiences, Wicked embraces its identity the way Elphaba does her emerald skin. Turns out such confidence makes all the difference in how they’re perceived.
— Peter Debruge, Variety

The filmmakers know exactly what their core audience wants, and they deliver big time.
— GDavid Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Does it honor The Wizard of Oz?

It enriches the source material while saluting the Golden Age of Technicolor MGM musicals, chief among them The Wizard of Oz.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

They do their utmost to pay reverence to the 1939 film (without getting sued) while simultaneously creating their own vision.
— Kristen Lopez, Kristomania

Like its predecessor, it’s an imperfect production that has a lot of heart and brains.
— Aisha Harris, NPR

(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)

How are the musical numbers?

Inventively staged and exuberantly performed… When it comes to big ensemble numbers like “What Is This Feeling?,” “Dancing Through Life,” and “One Short Day,” Chu’s more-is-more approach has an undeniable power.
— Caroline Siede, Girl Culture

There are certain sequences, specifically Galinda’s signature number “Popular” and Fiyero’s “Dancing Through Life,” where everything clicks together nicely and the film suddenly sparks into life.
— Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

They help us buy into the intrinsic musical conceit that these characters are bursting into song to express feelings too large for spoken words, not just mouthing lyrics and trilling melodies that someone spent weeks cleaning up in a studio. The decision to record the songs live on set whenever possible is a major plus.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

How is Jon M. Chu’s directing?

Chu’s direction is pure magic. Known for his ability to blend epic scale with intimate moments, he perfectly balances Wicked’s massive set pieces with its heartfelt story and a knowing tongue in cheek tone.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

Chu might not be Vincente Minnelli, his busy production numbers occasionally threatening to spin into chaos, but he nails what matters most.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

One of Chu’s greatest strengths as a filmmaker is capturing moments where people really see each other, and Wicked is full of those.
— Caroline Siede, Girl Culture

As in In the Heights, Chu excels at timing shots to match the music precisely, treating Schwartz’s music with an invigorating reverence.
— Dan Rubins, Slant Magazine

Chu has done dazzling movie musical work before, most recently with 2021’s In the Heights, but despite the elaborate costume and production design, Wicked is his least visually imaginative film.
— Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times

(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)

How does it look?

So many movies lately look like they were shot through mud-smeared lenses, which makes the luminous color and light of Wicked pleasurable in itself.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Alice Brooks’s cinematography can sometimes offer an exhilarating sensory overload.
— Dan Rubins, Slant Magazine

Wicked looks great, thanks to the combination of VFX and world-building practical sets.
— Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

Though the lighting is oddly murky and drab throughout — as if they didn’t have time to get it right before they started shooting — the tactical sets and cotton candy costuming just about make up for it.
— Caroline Siede, Girl Culture

Are there any issues with the CGI?

Unlike with so many films groaning under the weight of CG eyesores, digital technology is used less as a shortcut than as enhancer, or for specific purposes like dropping in talking animal characters and stitching together composite shots.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Occasionally, the film does contain some CGI issues that are noticeable throughout.
— Brittany Patrice Witherspoon, Pop Culture Reviews

(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)

How is Cynthia Erivo’s performance?

Wicked belongs to Erivo… Her eyes are an expressive window into the character’s lifetime of hurt and exclusion or defiant pride and anger, sometimes spanning that range and more within one scene or song or single line reading.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Make no mistake. This is Cynthia Erivo’s movie. What she was able to do with this character on screen is unbelievable.
— Brittany Patrice Witherspoon, Pop Culture Reviews

Erivo can hit the notes no problem, but it’s the work she does in close-up, conveying the emotional nuances of Elphaba’s formative years, that distinguishes this performance from Menzel’s.
— Peter Debruge, Variety

Erivo is a true revelation here; she delivers a gorgeously layered performance with plenty of depth and determination.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

Erivo offers a slightly snarky sweetness that makes the role feel unusually layered.
— Dan Rubins, Slant Magazine

Erivo isn’t particularly known for her comedy and she has some great droll comedic timing, particularly opposite the bubbly Grande.
— Kristen Lopez, Kristomania

What about Ariana Grande?

It’s Grande who steals the show with a sparkling performance.
— Rafer Guzman, Newsday

Ariana Grande, in a career-defining role, is delightful as the bubbly, ambitious Galinda. Her rendition of “Popular” is the highlight of the whole movie.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

Grande, lovely in her biggest movie role to date, enacts that quality with a liberal sprinkling of sugar and appealing comedy instincts.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

A talented mimic of the Broadway star’s singing style but a slightly stiffer presence on-screen… [she] lacks her idol’s killer comic timing.
— Peter Debruge, Variety

This isn’t an imitation of Chenoweth’s performance, more a light homage. On her own merits, Grande does well as the loveably selfish Galinda.
— Kristen Lopez, Kristomania

She’s a pop star who is still working on her acting style, which at times harkens back to her Nickelodeon roots. It’s sweet and lovely work, but at times lacking in the type of subtlety required for film acting, even in a musical role with as much comedy as drama.
— Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)

And when they’re together?

Even outside of the singing the pair work best when together. Their love/hate relationship is the crux of the movie and leads to some great bits of physical comedy as the pair try to one-up each other.
— Kristen Lopez, Kristomania

Even under the green makeup and against the backdrop of some hideously overwhelming CGI aesthetics, their chemistry is undeniable.
— Aisha Harris, NPR

Do any other performances stand out?

The true surprise, even more than Grande, is Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero… [He] has such a light comic touch to him, and his performance of “Dancing Through Life” might be the best part of the movie.
— Kristen Lopez, Kristomania

Jonathan Bailey steals the show as the vain Prince Fiyero Tigelaar, a love interest for both young witches. Bailey effortlessly dances and sings his way through the film’s most demanding musical numbers.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

Bailey is absolutely dashing and magnetic, giving a star-making performance… He lights up the screen.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

It’s impossible to ignore the “Jeff Goldblum-ness” of Jeff Goldblum, he glides into the role and makes it his own.
— Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)

Will it make us cry?

[When] Elphaba starts to dance alone, earning derision from her classmates. Broadway audiences laughed at the scene, but here, it’s heartbreaking, almost excruciating, as Chu intercuts between the earnestness of Elphaba’s naive movements and the barely concealed humiliation on her face.
— Peter Debruge, Variety

The scene in which Glinda reaches out to Elphaba by mirroring her awkward dance moves at a party can be a tearjerker on stage, but the slow-motion treatment here as the dance goes on and on drains it of emotional energy.
— Dan Rubins, Slant Magazine

Will we feel the runtime?

The entire runtime of this movie alone is the runtime of the actual Broadway production. And yet it never feels like there’s an ounce of filler.
— Kristen Lopez, Kristomania

Wicked benefits from room to breathe.
— Peter Debruge, Variety

There are some moments that drag, some scenes that seem superfluous.
— Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

On screen, Wicked feels self-consciously elongated whenever it stretches beyond the musical’s exoskeleton, as if the idea of making a lengthy movie predated the plan for what to do with all the extra minutes.
— Dan Rubins, Slant Magazine

(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)

Does it feel like half a movie?

It feels like a satisfying whole in the way you can enjoy The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as a standalone adventure even as it ends on a cliffhanger tease for a greater epic.
— Caroline Siede, Girl Culture

It manages to stand alone far better than many multiple-installment sagas… It helps that the film doesn’t end with a cliffhanger so much as Elphaba’s embrace of her full potential, à la Dune: Part One.
— Peter Debruge, Variety

Little of substance was added to justify making this affair a two-parter.
— Aisha Harris, NPR

Is it a must-see for the whole family?

Wicked is a wondrous old-school movie musical suitable for all but the very youngest of viewers. (Those monkeys have always been terrifying.)
— Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

Be ready for kids to jump a few times, and prep them for the fact that this is only the first part of Galinda and Elphaba’s story.
— Betsy Bozdech, Common Sense Media

Thumbnail image by ©Universal Pictures

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