When the film adaptation of Wicked was announced to be split into two separate parts; fans were left worried, with Act One of the stage show marked as one of the greatest musicals of all time and Act Two being a case of diminishing returns, a rushed re-imagining of The Wizard of OZ with weaker songs. Unfortunately, Wicked: For Good is also weaker than last year’s Wicked. While that film earned it’s longer runtime, with it’s fleshed-out worldbuilding, For Good, while over an hour longer than act two, adds nothing new of substance to it’s material.
In For Good, Ariana Grande’s Glinda is serving as a public figure for The Wizard of OZ, while Elphaba continues to fight for animal rights while being branded by all of OZ as The Wicked Witch of The West.
Wicked worked best when it was focusing on the growing friendship between Elphaba and Glinda, it was the emotional core of the film that gave us brilliant scenes like The Ozdust Duet, Popular & Defying Gravity. For Good features a brilliant reunion between the two; but as it goes on, they grow further and further apart with a melodramatic love story taking up much of their time together. until the ending with For Good and The Melting scene which is brilliantly expanded from the source material and earns it’s emotion — although much of that comes from brilliant improvisation from Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande, rather than director Jon M Chu.
The new film is also much more of an ensemble piece with Fiyero tracking down Elphaba, while Morrible and The Wizard continue to work in the background spreading propaganda and fear. Too much time is spent on unnecessary additions, like an expansion of Every Day More Wicked (which works a short intro to Thank Goodness in the stage show) which features a cheesy reprise of Popular, two new songs (The Girl In The Bubble is a fun throwback to old musical style, but No Place Like Home is poorly directed) & an unnecessary ‘flashback’ to Glinda’s childhood. rather than expanding important plotlines such as Nessarose and Boq or Elphaba’s transformation into being Wicked after No Good Deed. These frivolous new additions definitely create a ”what-could’ve-been” scenario.
As stated, Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande are fantastic. And they are the glue that holds the film together. Grande really gets to show off her emotional side here, whereas she was much more comedic in part one. Erivo stuns with No Good Deed and her character change is believable and intense. Jonathon Bailey as Fiyero is still underutilized as the character is in the stage show, and really only serves to create tension between the two leads, however, he does his best with the material given. Jeff Goldblum is as sinisterly charming as ever as The Wizard, as he tries to get Elphaba to come back to his side. It’s Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible that is the cast’s weakest link, as she delivers much of her lines as if she just got sent the script and unfortunately she is not a good singer for a musical film.
I have never been of the opinion that Act 2 of Wicked has ‘forgettable’, or bad songs. There’s nothing (except No Good Deed & For Good) that really lives up to act one’s biggest moments, but there’s nothing as outright boring as Something Bad or A Sentimental Man. Jon M. Chu may not be the boldest director in the business (we’ll get to that), but his interpretation of As Long as You’re Mine is a refreshing twist from the stage show and feels more like how two people would act after leaving someone they care about on their wedding day for each other. The No Good Deed sequence is also handled with aplomb and has some interesting flashback sequences. But it’s the Girl In The Bubble sequence that is the film’s highlight for cinematography as the camera passes through all sorts of mirrors and reflections. It may be slightly gimmicky, but it is impressive nonetheless.
Jon M. Chu is passionate about Wicked and has said he’s always wanted to make these films and his love and care for the source material can definitely be felt — even in interviews with him and his DP Alice Brooks, they have a genuine reason for the directorial and visual choices they made. But good intentions do not make good cinematography. There’s no unbearable over-lighting like there was in Dancing Through Life here, but so much of the film is shot in close-up which undervalues the incredible sets and costumes designed by Nathan Crowley and Paul Tazwell.
Some audience members may not come out feeling they have been changed for the better, but Wicked: For Good will still prove popular with fans of the stage show, even if it’s working with weaker material than the first film — it’s two brilliant lead performances, ensemble cast and last half hour make it worth the watch.
Featured Image Credit: Universal Studios
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