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We may only be a month and a half away from this year coming to a close, but there are still plenty of heavy-hitters on the 2024 movies schedule waiting to be released. This weekend, however, is bringing what could end up being the biggest of the bunch, with the first half of the long-awaited film adaptation of Wicked finally arriving. While the public counts down the remaining days until its wide release, critics have shared their thoughts on Wicked following a swarm of social media reactions, and they’re gushing over how the Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo-led movie defies gravity, to borrow from one of the musical’s most well-known numbers.
Starting off, our own Riley Utley wrote in CinemaBlend’s Wicked review that director John M. Chu “understood the musical assignment and awarded the movie a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. In addition to being impressed with Grande and Erivo’s respective performances as Elphaba and Galinda, she was also impressed by the choreography, set design, the supporting cast members and various other elements. She summarized:
Overall, Wicked is a masterpiece. It builds on its source material and adds a sprinkle of movie magic to an already wonderful musical. In the immediate aftermath, I think it will go down as one of the greatest musicals of all time, and that’s all because of how much love, care and attention the cast and crew gave to this wonderful story.
Helen O’Hara from Empire wasn’t quite as enamored with Wicked, giving it 4 out of 5 stars instead. Nevertheless, she also praised Chu’s work and the casting of the lead actors, though she described the supporting cast as “solid but less well served.” As she put it:
Chu amps up the colour and spectacle to extraordinary, almost overwhelming heights, but the real magic comes from Erivo and Grande as the frenemies at the story’s heart.
Over at ScreenRant, while Rachel Labonte had a few “quibbles,” she described Wicked as a “near-perfect adaptation of the musical, and that’s taking into account how this movie only covers the events and songs from Act 1 of the original production. In her words:
I still found myself feeling like I, too, could defy gravity by the end of Wicked, so entranced was I by the music, the production design, and the performances. I could go on for a lot longer about all my little thoughts (what else would you expect from a huge fan like me?), but I’ll leave you with this: if you loved the original musical, you’ll have a wickedly great time with this version too.
IGN’s Alyssa Mora said that Wicked didn’t just defy gravity, but also defied “high expectations,” calling it a “dazzling adaptation” of the Broadway musical and rating it a 9 out of 10. Although this first part clocks in at 160 minutes, Mora said the movie “never drags,” and while “not everything works,” the positives far outweigh the negatives. She concluded:
Wicked is a well-oiled machine in the hands of Jon M. Chu. This film adaptation epitomizes what modern movie musicals can and should be, embracing its source material while cleverly translating it to screen. Tear-jerking performances by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo make the movie, playing to their individual strengths to bring to life the rapport between Glinda and Elphaba, who’ll go on to become the good and wicked witches of Wizard of Oz fame. If as many people love this film as much as I did, Wicked will undoubtedly immortalize the Grande and Erivo in movie musical history.
Finally, Jonathan Sim at ComingSoon rated Wicked an 8 out of 10 and called it the “best movie musical of 2024.” He also praised the cast’s performances and the musical numbers, although he impressed with the cinematography. Still, ending things on a positive note, Sim wrote:
Wicked is a show-stopper sure to make any musical lover happy. It adds a lot to the stage production, fleshing out characters and making you laugh and cry.
These are just a few of the critics who’ve shared their thoughts on Wicked, so feel free to look around to see what other people are saying. Overall though, it looks like this will be another cinematic win for 2024, which will likely translate into major box office numbers. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are joined in Wicked’s cast by Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage and Bowen Yang, among others. Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox both worked on the script.
Judge Wicked for yourself when it’s released this Friday, November 22, the same day Gladiator II opens. Then be sure to mark down on your calendar that Wicked Part Two comes out on November 21 on the 2025 movies schedule.