Hauling in $150 million on its opening weekend, “Wicked: For Good” proved to be a box office success, even surpassing the first “Wicked” movie at $112.5 million, and becoming the highest grossing Broadway musical to movie adaptation ever.
Taking off where “Wicked: Part 1” left off, the story continues after Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, performed her large show stopper, “Defying Gravity,” and flew out of the Emerald City. Now hiding out in the woods, The Wicked Witch of the West makes efforts to convince the public of The Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) lies and causes certain disruptions throughout Oz. Glinda (Ariana Grande), on the other hand, is navigating through her role as an uplifting political figure of Oz after being taken under Madam Moribble’s (Michelle Yeoh) wing.
As someone absolutely blown away by the first “Wicked” movie, my expectations were through the roof, but I felt a bit split after watching the movie. “Wicked: For Good” offered a darker sequel to the first, and was a bit disorganized. However, I really enjoyed the movie, though it didn’t leave me as starstruck as the first.
The Good
The best aspect of “Wicked: For Good” in my opinion was the chemistry between Erivo and Grande, and there’s no doubt this flawlessly transferred to Elphaba and Glinda. Even within a more serious and jarring conflict than the first “Wicked” movie, the clear friendship and connection is distinct, still able to share many playful and humorous moments throughout the movie.
Not to mention their strong joint vocals and bittersweet performance of the song “For Good,” where they both reminisce on the positive changes they inflicted on one another. In addition to “For Good,” Ervio particularly provided an engaging cinematic performance on her solo “No Good Deed,” which was my personal favorite scene and song from the movie.
Another aspect of the movie that I enjoyed was Glinda’s character arc, which I think Grande demonstrated quite impeccably. Her portrayal of Glinda was notable from the start; she perfectly captured her bubbly, ditzy, and almost saccharine demeanor in “Wicked: Part 1.” However, “Wicked: For Good” gives Glinda greater depth as she decides to pop her bubble of bliss, and discover what it means to be truly “good.”
Her revelation further attests itself in her new song, “The Girl in the Bubble.” This song was written just for the movie, and has received much hate with people online criticizing its unfamiliarity and redundancy. “We don’t learn anything new about Glinda,” says one reddit user, claiming “The Girl in the Bubble” was a pointless addition. However, I think quite the opposite, as this song is Glinda’s reflection on her “life built on lies,” and crucial for her character turnover. While I agree that the song felt a bit unfinished, and the difference was notable compared to the other songs, the messaging it provided was key.
What Could have been for the Better
While “Wicked: For Good” was a staggering 2 hours and 17 minutes, Act Two of the Broadway musical only clocks in at about an hour. This resulted in a more glacial movie, as the production was forced to stretch out much of the plot. That being said, the end of the movie still felt rushed, hastily working to tie up all loose ends created, and leaving some strong political themes underbaked. This proved to be a distraction from other good elements of the movie.
The structure was not the only thing that seemed to be lost, though — “Wicked: For Good” lost much of its magic. This is due to the subtle set changes from the first movie, turning glittering and excitingly green Oz of Act One into a matte profile. Yes, while this was likely due to the movie’s overall darker themes, for me it resulted in the loss of the whimsical energy, leaving the atmosphere desaturated and dull.
Another unnecessary aspect was “No Place Like Home,” which was the other new song written for the movie, sung by Elphaba. Though Erivo gave a strong and emotional performance, I felt that the song fell short, not adding much substance to the movie, and seemed like pure filler material to compensate for the movie’s length.
Should you see “Wicked: For Good?”
The short answer: Yes, I would recommend it, and I believe if you liked the first “Wicked” movie, chances are, you’re probably going to enjoy this one as well. However, whether you enjoy it more than the first is based on personal preference. And though the flaws tend to show through, the bottom line is, “Wicked: For Good” is a solid, entertaining movie, and even though it doesn’t quite live up to the first act, I’d say it’s worth the watch.
