‘Wicked’ Reviews
“Jon M. Chu has made a movie musical that manages to stand on its own as a fully satisfying screen entertainment, and also serves as a delicious invitation to an upcoming second half.”
Read our full #WickedMovie review here: https://t.co/9zCxHaO8fK pic.twitter.com/OzADKpaLjW
- Deadline (@DEADLINE) November 19, 2024
Not only does it soars cinematically, it exceeds all expectations. What director Jon M. Chu does here ranks with the best movie musicals, an innovative and quite stunning take that will not disappoint even the hardest-core lovers of the stage version.
Erivo is simply stunning in the juicy role of Elphaba, her voice a wonder and a perfect fit for Schwartz’s music, especially in the iconic “Defying Gravity.” She is matched in every way by a charming and very funny Grande, proving her acting chops and adjusting the pop vocal styles of her career to a voice that truly becomes Galinda - a popular choice indeed.
The supporting cast is superb.
The Hollywood Reporter
The respective casting of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo is the movie’s winning hand. Their vocals are clear and strong and supple to a degree many of us have learned not to expect after too many movie musicals that cast merely adequate singers and then Auto-Tune them to death. They help us buy into the intrinsic musical conceit that these characters are bursting into song to express feelings. Both actors have deep roots in musical theater, making them skilled at keeping the transitions between dialogue scenes and songs fluid. They fully integrate one part into the other, with none of those awkward moments. They draw us into the story and the characters’ experiences to a degree that lets us forget the genre’s inherent artificiality.
Indie Wire
Cynthia Erivo‘s singing is unparalleled, Ariana Grande is wonderfully funny, and the musical sequences are not just handsomely, but whimsically mounted. The all-singing, all-dancing meat-and-potatoes of the musical, “Wicked” absolutely delivers. Both existing fans and newbies will swoon over the iconic bangers. But expanding out the Broadway musical into two (very long) parts doesn't offer the opportunity for depth we were promised.
Variety
Instead of feeling bloated, “Wicked” has found its ideal form, where every frame comes crammed with the kind of detail that could easily have been distracting, had a lesser talent than Cynthia Erivo been asked to carry it. 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. Erivo’s subtler approach invites audiences under the character’s skin. Ariana Grande steps into Glinda, proving a talented mimic of the Broadway star’s singing style but a slightly stiffer presence on-screen. Grande nails the dimension of Glinda’s personality, but lacks her idol’s killer comic timing.
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