A weaker sequel to the first half of the Broadway musical movie, Wicked: For Good, about what ultimately happens to the characters in Oz, hits some high notes, but it takes awhile.
As I’ve mentioned before, I am a huge theatre nerd. I have seen the musical Wicked on stage approximately eight times, two of which were when I was pregnant with each of my children. They were literally listening to musicals in utero. Welcome to my household.
That being the case, and with my also being a Chicago theatre critic, I am always leery of stage musicals being transformed into film (unless it’s a proshot like Waitress or Come From Away, which I am always down for!). But I enjoyed the first Wicked film last year, giving it 4 stars, so I had to watch the conclusion.
Wicked: For Good picks up years after the end of the first movie. A missing Elphaba has now been dubbed The Wicked Witch Of The West by the Wizard, Madame Morrible, and the general public. Glinda (dubbed “Glinda The Good”) has become a favorite of the people and Fiyero is both her boyfriend and the captain of the guards hunting for Elphaba. The animals are leaving Oz in fear for their lives, as they are being persecuted and locked up, and Nessa has taken her position as governor of Munchkinland with Boq as a house servant.
If you are unfamiliar with Wicked the stage musical, you will really enjoy this film. The music is (mostly) phenomenal, the story is engaging, and it’s lovely to look at. Go watch it, you will love it.
If you are a Wicked-head, like me, I had a very mixed experience with this film. First, the best parts. The costumes are absolutely top notch. Everything from cotton candy-colored clothing with rich textures to unique guard uniforms (inspired by the stage show) and all of Glinda’s pink fluffiness. It is magical. Hairstyles of Munchkinlanders are unique and eye-catching and much of the staging is done very well.
The original score from the musical is beautiful and performed well, but the new songs (“The Girl In The Bubble” and “No Place Like Home”) feel wholly unnecessary. They are trying to help you get a deeper glimpse into Glinda’s life experience and Elphaba’s quest to save the animals respectively, but they both take on a strange Disney princess vibe (with Elphaba literally surrounded by animals). I didn’t get anything from them.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande each fill their shoes in Wicked: For Good, but Grande pulls ahead in the last 15 minutes. The characters go through very different journeys in this second movie – it is much darker – but I kept waiting to find the connection that I once had (or any emotional connection to the characters at all), and it took all the way until “As Long As You’re Mine” for any inkling to arrive (approximately 1 hour 15 minutes in).
Jonathan Bailey is the highlight of the film. With Fiyero in an odd predicament and also realizing that he has more depth than he ever thought, Bailey is able to display moments of real confusion and angst. I am deeply disturbed by the costuming choices they made for him at the end, but I’ll let you watch and discover that turn of events for yourself. Yikes.
Also, I love Michelle Yeoh, but she is miscast as Madame Morrible. She is a phenomenal actress, but she is not a singer and this just isn’t her part.
There has been much chatter about what would ultimately happen with Nessa’s character and whether it would translate the same way as the musical. I will not give away her story, but I’m not sure that the change they went with ultimately did much for the character. It does, however, take away any hint of ableism that becomes an issue on stage. And that is something.
Globally, this is good, but the first movie is stronger. The songs from the original score are performed beautifully and, with this story delving deeper into the themes of animal mistreatment that exist in the book, it is a clear allusion to what is happening in this country and around the world right now. The biggest warning, though – you will be hearing the music in your dreams tonight, but there are worse things.
As I’ve mentioned before, I am a huge theatre nerd. I have seen the musical Wicked on stage approximately eight times, two of which were when I was pregnant with each of my children. They were literally listening to musicals in utero. Welcome to my household.
