By The reviews are in for the long-gestating film adaptation of the musical “Wicked” and the results are very strong.
With 97 reviews counted, the film sits at 93% (8.1/10) on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the better scores ever for a modern film musical – on par with “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu’s prior musical film “In the Heights” at 94% (8.0/10), but with an average rating behind Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” at 92% (8.5/10), and Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” at 91% (8.7/10).
On Metacritic it sits at a positive but more mixed 73/100 which puts it behind “Dreamgirls” (76), “Encanto” (75) and “tick, tick…Boom!” (74).
The reviews generally indicate if you’re a fan of the musical itself, you’ll be very satisfied. Whether it will appeal beyond those fans however is a bigger question. Here’s a sampling of reviews:
“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
“When Erivo nails that moment and rides into Oz’s history books on a broomstick, for a split second you feel like there’s no place you’d rather be than riding alongside her. Not even home.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone
“It’s so doggedly faithful to the show, so emphatically orchestrated and so powered by Cynthia Erivo’s exceptional performance, that resistance to its 169 minutes of theme park magic becomes futile.” – Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International
“Wicked succeeds because of some unreproducible, lightning in a bottle convergences — of director, stars, craftspeople, and high-status material.” – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
“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. ” – Helen O’Hara, Empire
“Fans of the show will likely adore it, but it only sporadically achieves the demented energy that marks Chu’s best work and that makes the great modern movie musicals sing.” – Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
“In terms of raw spectacle, the all-singing, all-dancing meat-and-potatoes of the musical, Wicked absolutely delivers. B-” – Kate Erbland, Indiewire
“This isn’t a fiasco on the level of Cats or Dear Evan Hansen, but those encountering this material for the first time may well wonder what all the fuss is about.” – Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict
“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.” – Robbie Collin, The Daily Telegraph
“Wicked” opens in cinemas on Friday and is headed for a projected opening of around $120-150 million domestically and a further $40-50 million overseas.
The post The “Wicked” Movie Reviews Are In appeared first on Dark Horizons.
