The first cinematic adaptation of the popular Broadway musical Wicked didn’t wholly blow me away. Still, I certainly enjoyed the experience and was impressed by some of the musical set pieces. I also appreciated the inventive, creative take on The Wizard of Oz lore, which makes the Wicked Witch of the West/Elphaba a more relatable and sympathetic character. I love that the creative minds behind the musical have taken L. Frank Baum’s original story and apply its elements to the real struggles of people marginalized for being different. That is what makes the first movie so compelling, and the wonderful, musical set pieces make it all work so well.
Well, movie audiences had to wait a year to see the conclusion to the story, and though I liked it overall, I was somewhat disappointed that it followed a strict pattern to fill in all the missing pieces from its source material. Though that element was to be expected, this second film remains so focused on that task that it lacks enough exciting, breathtaking moments of its own. A friend’s reaction to this movie was that director Jon M. Chu and his creative team, along with the film’s producers, should have trimmed the second part down and made Wicked into one single movie. I agree with this sentiment as well, as Wicked For Good is a tad disappointing, given the buildup of magic and excitement the first movie delivers.
Since the events of the previous installment, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is still Oz’s public enemy number one, and the people of Oz are firm believers in this false propaganda. As the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) proceeds with his plans to build the yellow brick road, through the slave labor of animals and human workers serving his reign, Elphaba does her best to disrupt the Wizard’s plans and liberate any animals forced to toil for him. Meanwhile, Glinda (Ariana Grande) benefits from her dedication to the status quo, though she feels terrible for being afraid to help her beloved school friend. At the same time, Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) works as the Captain of the Wizard’s Guard in hopes that he can find Elphaba to guarantee her safety. Things further escalate as Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) schemes to take down Elphaba by any means necessary.
Even though Wicked: For Good is the weaker of the two parts, I still had fun exploring this world and was compelled by Elphaba’s desire to make things right. However, this movie does not need to be its own film. Had the filmmakers trimmed a lot of the unnecessary scenes and additional songs, this second part would have worked better as the conclusion of one movie. The excessive fluff here dilutes the overall story’s impact.
I still enjoyed the characters and the performances by the cast, who have an excellent grasp of them and can definitely sing well enough, but this installment feels somewhat stretched. I was also annoyed that elements from The Wizard of Oz movie/story are forced into this take on the lore, so it never feels natural and comes across as fan service.
The visuals are amazing. The costumes are gorgeous, and the artistic crew does an excellent job of creating this colorful and vibrant world, but the film version of Wicked should have been one movie. Would it have been a long movie? It would have been lengthy, but that could be easily remedied with an intermission. Just as Quentin Tarantino is releasing a complete version of Kill Bill in December, perhaps Universal will eventually release a singular version of Wicked, because that is the only way I can see these two movies working successfully.