Here’s What The Critics Are Saying About ‘Wicked’, Canada Reviews

For anyone who has seen and loved Wicked on Broadway, the West End or dozens of other stages around the world since it first opened in 2003, the anticipation levels for this week’s movie adaptation are higher than Glinda’s floating bubble. Millions of people around the globe will have tickets booked for Wicked the movie and maybe even costumes ready to go.

But what should they expect from the first part of Jon M Chu’s (In the Heights) two-part adaptation? A thrillifying big-screen extravaganza or a clunking disappointment? 

The early verdicts are in and, rejoice, because the tidings from the Emerald City are sparkly and glowing.

‘Wicked succeeds because of some unreproducible, lightning in a bottle convergences – of director, stars, craftspeople, and high-status material,’ enthuses Vanity Fair. ‘Chu uses every bell and whistle possible to turn the stage show into a movie epic,’ agrees Empire.

Variety writes that it’s ‘a great big wedding cake of a movie, garnished with sparklers and tinsel’. 

Are Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande good as the leads?

The consensus is that the two lead actresses are great as witch-in-the-making Elphaba and her frenemy Galinda. ‘Cynthia Erivo gives Elphaba all the gravitas she needs without losing sight of her sense of humour, and Ariana Grande’s Glinda is a deadpan delight,’ says the Sydney Morning Herald. ‘The sledgehammer punch is delivered by Erivo as the wounded, angry, alienated Elphaba,’ writes The Guardian.

How good are the songs in Wicked?

Pretty great, writes USA Today. ‘Erivo nails the money notes of signature showstopper Defying Gravity… [and] Grande is known as a singer – and doesn’t disappoint in that area.’

There’s praise in these parts, too. ‘The songs, especially the ceiling-plaster-loosening Defying Gravity, are belted out via vocal cords you’d pay top dollar to hear in concert,’ notes ’s review.

Do you need to have seen Wicked on the stage to enjoy it?

Maybe, notes Indiewire of the wealth of back story and Oz mythology in the movie. ‘This spin on the magical story of a kinda magical land will push its audience to hit Wikipedia long and hard after it wraps up its stretched-to-the-breaking-point two-hour-and-40-minute running time.’

A few in-jokey cameos are tailored firmly for long-standing fans of the stage show, writes Slant Magazine. ‘[They go on] long enough that newcomers to the Wicked-verse may be completely lost.’

Is it too long?

Not everyone is blown away by Chu and co’s return to Oz. The Boston Globe questions the film’s tonal shifts – from bubblegum coming-of-age comedy to the darker strain of repression represented by Jeff Goldblum’s Wizard. ‘Authoritarianism and broad comedy make strange and uneasy bedfellows,’ notes its critic.

The runtime – 160 minutes – stuck in the throat of a few critics. ‘Glorious looking but overlook,’ grumbles the Chicago Sun Times. ‘This smacks of bloat for bloat’s sake,’ writes The Telegraph, ‘full of scenes in which almost nothing happens with maximum fuss’. ‘It’s like being turfed out of a theatre at the interval,’ notes the BBC of the cliffhanger ending.

Wicked is in cinemas worldwide Nov 20. 

Read ’s verdict on Wicked.

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