- The first instalment of Wicked is set to hit theaters on November 22
- Ahead of the film’s release, critics have been giving their verdict
- But opinions have been mixed
It’s one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2024.
And now critics have given their verdict on Wicked.
The film – which has been split into two halves, the second of which will hit theaters in November 2025 – is an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, and stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, and Ariana Grande as her enemy-turned-friend Glinda.
Jonathan Bailey also features as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible.
As the movie will hit theaters this Friday (November 22), critics are now giving their verdict – and have given the film mixed reviews.
Pubity.com takes a look at what they have said about Wicked…
Variety – ‘Confidence makes all the difference’
“Home is where Dorothy was trying to get all along, of course, though Chu clearly designed Wicked to be experienced the old-fashioned way: on the biggest screen you can find, among a crowd of giddy theatergoers (inevitably singing along in some screenings).
“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.”
The Hollywood Reporter – ‘Erivo’s eyes are an expressive window’
“Wicked belongs to Erivo. Elphaba was always the meatier part — in the faceoff for best actress in a musical at the 2004 Tonys, original Elphaba Idina Menzel prevailed over Kristin Chenoweth’s Glinda — and the character’s arc carries even more weight in this adaptation.
“Or maybe that’s just because Erivo brings such moving personal investment to her performance, a quality that recalls the Tony-winning role that put her on the map, in the 2015 Broadway revival of The Color Purple. 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. Her Elphaba is an outcast hero worth rooting for.”
The New York Post – ‘Wicked needs its second half’
“Wicked has always been an imbalanced show. Act 1 has all the best songs, while Act 2 has the Cowardly Lion’s share of the plot. The first film, therefore, can feel like a lot of toe-tapping set-up to something more exciting in 2025.
“Even after nearly three hours of sitting, I didn’t feel as though I’d gotten to know the characters very well.
“Like Elphaba needs Galinda, Wicked needs its second half.”
The Guardian – 4/5 – An enjoyable spectacle’
“As Kermit the Frog and the Hulk discovered: it’s not easy being green. Now another verdant character is gleefully brought to the screen. It’s a sugar-rush fantasy with the overpowering star presence of Cynthia Erivo; it basically dunks you face-down in a hyperreal ball pit of M&Ms for two and three-quarter hours. I don’t have showtune-rapture in my DNA but this movie made a cleaner, sharper, cartoonier kind of sense to me than the stage show which I saw back in 2011.
“It’s arguable if Wicked could ever be a meaningfully persuasive prequel for the characters in The Wizard of Oz as we actually see them in the 1939 film, as this would involve cancelling their powerfully timeless, mythological aura, and instead substituting the more banal idea of human development. But this is the joke, and this is the story, and what an enjoyable spectacle it is.”
BBC – 3/5 – ‘A flat opening instalment’
“There are decent performances from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande – but this flat opening instalment of The Wizard of Oz prequel may not convert those who aren’t already super-fans.
“Wicked might have been lighter on its feet if the editors had cut a subplot about magical talking animals, which doesn’t add anything except several minutes of running time. And they could have cut Elphaba’s sister, who is given perplexingly little to do. That way, the film could have been packed the whole musical into one fast-moving, satisfying entertainment.
“As it is, I have a strong suspicion that Wicked will work much better as the first part of a double bill, with Wicked Part 2 being shown after an interval. But we’ll have to wait another year to know for sure.”
The Telegraph – 2/5 – ‘All the buoyancy of a grand piano being heaved off the roof of St Paul’s Cathedral’
“Considering its signature number is called Defying Gravity, it’s unfortunate that Wicked has all the buoyancy of a grand piano being heaved off the roof of St Paul’s Cathedral. But mind your heads, folks, because here it comes, whistling down towards the pavement, and landing in the pre-Christmas cinema schedules with a tooth-splintering crash.
“I loved the dramatic lighting as Elphaba reads from the Wizard’s forbidden spell book, and the way the whole world flushes puce during the final bars of Grande’s performance of Popular – which, along with Defying Gravity, is one of only two songs here (of 11) that feel truly uncuttable.
“The question prospective ticketbuyers should ask themselves is: in order to hear them, what are you prepared to sit through? For me, regrettably, the answer was: not this.”
