Almost one year after Wicked’s premiere, Wicked: For Good was released to theatres. Starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, both films gained popularity quickly, with both being in the top 50 highest grossing films of the year domestically.
Wicked and Wicked: For Good are acts one and two of Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the stage musical Wicked. The musical premiered in 2003 and has become one of the highest grossing Broadway musicals of all time.
Wicked: For Good is set directly after the events of the first movie, continuing on Elphaba’s (Cynthia Erivo) transformation into The Wicked Witch of the West. It also follows the development of Glinda (Ariana Grande) who grows into her role as Glinda The Good.
Elphaba goes from being a talented outcast, who was depicted by the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) as an evil witch, to eventually accepting her name and confronting Dorothy (Bethany Weaver) in her own journey.
On the other hand, Glinda experiences the opposite, as she starts off as a tool of the Wizard but ends the story by ridding Oz of the very corruption she used to blindly follow, finally living up to her title. After the Wizard departs, she jails Madame Morrible and begins to master the ancient magic of Oz.
While set in the same universe as the Wizard of Oz from the beginning, comparisons between The Wizard of Oz and Wicked: For Good are highlighted more towards the second half of the movie. The movie begins to directly overlap with the events of The Wizard of Oz, while we continue to follow Elphaba and Glinda in their own plotline. Although Dorothy is the protagonist of The Wizard of Oz she is depicted as almost a reckless fool in Wicked: For Good. She wanders through Oz amassing opposition to the Witch and eventually is purely used as an extension of the Wizard’s will. This culminates in a classic witch hunt, where they are hunting the wrong person.
*Spoilers ahead*
One highlight from the film is the production. The set of The Emerald City is clearly designed with thought and intention, making the world of Oz come to life and adding a fantastical element to the movie.
One point in which the movie falls short is in its music. While the songs are the same style as those in the first movie, and melodies from the first movie are repeated often, they fail to carry that same catchy, feel good feeling. Every song fails to have the same impact just isn’t memorable. Even the closing song, the namesake of the movie, can’t compare to “Defying Gravity” from the first movie. Additionally, the musical numbers of Wicked: For Good are incomparable to hits from the first movie such as “Popular,” “What Is This Feeling?” and “Dancing through Life.”
Another issue is that many of the storylines feel rushed. Towards the second half of the movie Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) decides to abandon Glinda because of his love for Elphaba. This plot started brewing in the first movie but accelerated too fast. He began to think about her in the first movie but by the second one this snowballs into him leaving Glinda. To some extent this is due to his disillusionment with The Wizard, but this action was so abrupt and felt somewhat forced.
This is consistent with many other characters. Glinda and Elphaba often alternate between having great chemistry and opposing each other. After Nessarose is crushed by the house, initiating the overlapping events with The Wizard of Oz, Elphaba fights against Glinda but quickly following this she just falls to a level of dispondence. The movie has multiple of these quick mood shifts, and it often hurts the pacing.
The acting was scattered around the board as well. Jonathan Bailey, Cynthia Erivo, and Ariana Grande all shine, making the story come to life. However, Ethan Slater (Boq) and Michelle Yeoh both under-perform throughout much of the movie. Often Michelle Yeoh feels awkward in her acting and in her singing. Ethan Slater’s character felt rather flat throughout the movie, even in the parts where he was meant to show his rage.
Overall, while Wicked: For Good is a good and high quality film, it comes off as a darker, less likable version of the original Wicked movie. It does expand greatly on the themes presented in the original movie, but feels like a movie made entirely for the fans of the first movie. It’s a great product but it just isn’t nearly as iconic or memorable as the first movie.