Wicked: For Good has finally hit the theatres, and this long-anticipated sequel to Wicked didn’t disappoint. While the film has received mixed reviews online, receiving a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, it was still a satisfying, gut-wrenching conclusion to the Wicked story.
Summary
Wicked: For Good opens on the heels of Elphaba’s departure from Emerald City, immediately opening on the new and improved Oz. It has an entirely different atmosphere from the first movie, showing how much has changed in Oz since the ending of Wicked.
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) now lives in the forest in solitude, vilified as “The Wicked Witch of the West,” while Glinda (Ariana Grande) has established a name for herself in Emerald City as “Glinda the Good.” The two are walking completely different paths, but in Wicked: For Good, their lives become even more intertwined with one another.
Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) pulled out all the stops to paint Elphaba as “The Wicked Witch of the West,” creating a myth of who Elphaba truly is. Likewise, the same is true for Glinda, who begins to question what being “good” really means.
Wicked: For Good shows how the desperate situation in Oz pushed Elphaba and Glinda into dark corners, overshadowing their true selves, leading each to discover who they truly are and who they want to be.
We also see Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) play an even bigger part in Wicked: For Good, and his presence in the film amps up the tensions in Elphaba and Glinda’s relationship. This deepens the narrative, strengthening each character’s story through the interactions between all three of them.
Wicked: For Good also coincides with the story of The Wizard of Oz through the arrival of Dorothy (Bethany Weaver) in Oz. Dorothy’s character is also unique because she remains faceless, with only a few lines in the film.
The movie features two original songs, “No Place Like Home,” performed by Erivo, and “The Girl in the Bubble,” performed by Grande.
“No Place Like Home” is a powerful anthem sung by Elphaba, “explaining why she continues to fight for Oz, a land that has rejected her.” On the other hand, “The Girl in the Bubble” is an emotional call-to-action where Glinda comes “to terms with the fact that her identity has been built on lies.”
Wicked: For Good Review
The conflict in Wicked: For Good was completely amped up, and the cast’s performance didn’t disappoint. Erivo and Grande deliver even more powerful performances as Elphaba and Glinda, and their chemistry is off the charts. We see this throughout the film, but their rendition of “For Good” near the film’s end is especially heart-wrenching.
Another standout moment in the movie is the catfight scene that audiences got a glimpse of in one of the trailers for Wicked: For Good. This part of the film provided a small moment of comedic relief for the audience, but Erivo and Grande did a phenomenal job of portraying how the tension between Elphaba and Glinda started boiling over.
Erivo delivers the full range of emotions Elphaba experiences throughout the film, from her hope for change and her frustration with her futile efforts to her full embrace of “The Wicked Witch of the West” title. This culminates in the song “No Good Deed,” and then again at the end in “For Good” in her emotional duet with Grande.
Grande’s performance as Glinda is just as powerful, with Glinda taking on a more prominent role in Wicked: For Good, and Grande captures Glinda’s character arc and emotional development throughout the film perfectly.
The audience sees Glinda transform into a completely different person by the end of the film, and Grande does a great job of portraying this in her acting as well as her performances in “The Girl in the Bubble,” “I’m Not That Girl (Reprise),” and “For Good.” It’s truly in the ending of the film that we see how Glinda has changed through the callback to the first Wicked movie.
Fiyero’s character also stands out, as Bailey’s portrayal adds another layer of depth to the story by truly capturing Fiyero’s desperation to find Elphaba and help enact change in Oz.
Another excellent choice the filmmakers made (besides the phenomenal casting) was making Dorothy a faceless character. In an interview, Jon M. Chu, the director of Wicked, stated that he decided to make her faceless because it’s “still Elphaba and Glinda’s journey,” and Dorothy is only “a pawn in the middle of all of it.”
By doing this, Dorothy and the story of The Wizard of Oz don’t overshadow Elphaba and Glinda; rather, it shows how Dorothy’s arrival is pivotal in the story of Wicked: For Good but not because of Dorothy herself.
The film’s production and costuming are also phenomenal; both Wicked and Wicked: For Good were filmed at the same time, but the costuming department did an excellent job of showing how each character has aged between the first movie and the sequel.
There are also numerous changes from the musical to the movie, and one of the standout decisions was Glinda’s feature in the song “Wonderful.” Audiences saw this change in the trailer, since in the musical, only the Wizard and Elphaba are included in “Wonderful.” However, I think this was also an excellent decision made by production; it shows how important Glinda still is to Elphaba.
The only part of Wicked: For Good that falls only slightly short of its predecessor is the music, but that’s not because of the cast’s performance.
Wicked has heavy-hitting songs like “The Wizard And I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity,” and although the sequel also has powerful songs like “No Good Deed” and “For Good,” this doesn’t bridge the gap between the first and second movie’s soundtracks. The majority of Wicked’s show-stopping songs are packed into the first movie, making the music in Wicked: For Good feel lackluster because it has fewer emotionally powerful songs than its predecessor.
I also felt that the songs “No Place Like Home” and “March of the Witch Hunters” were cut short, which was disappointing, as both are two of my favorite picks from the film.
Still, Wicked: For Good is a 10/10 overall, packing a performance just as powerful as its predecessor while adapting the second act of Wicked incredibly well. The film was a phenomenal ending to the storyline, and it created a satisfying conclusion after the cliffhanger we saw in Wicked. The changes made to the film also added a new layer of depth to the story, especially the inclusion of the two new songs.
The cast has seamless chemistry, much like the film’s predecessor, and each actor brings their A-game to deliver phenomenal performances, leaving audiences on the edge of their seat waiting for what’s going to happen next.
If you plan on seeing Wicked: For Good, make sure you bring a box of tissues — this movie will leave you crying, but still wishing to go see it again.
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