Wicked: For Good Review
Oz is, and always has been, characterised by duality. Truth and lies, loyalty and betrayal, Good Witch and Wicked Witch. Two halves of the same coin. Here we have Jon M. Chu’s conclusion to his Wicked saga, the other half of the roaring, world phenomenon that is Wicked: Part 1. One year later, we return to Oz for an ending that is, for the most part, a faithful adaptation of part two of Stephen Schwartz’ beloved musical (save for a few changes that you might like to see for yourself). If adapting one of the world’s most beloved musicals wasn’t enough of a challenge, some might argue that Chu’s Wicked: Part Two, or Wicked: For Good, in this case, an adaptation of the notoriously weaker half of the musical, has a lot to fix. Well, if Part One is the whimsy, then Part Two is its solemn and certainly imperfect conclusion.
Wicked: For Good kicks off with a considerable time jump from Wicked: Part One. The exact length of this skip is unclear (it’s five years in Gregory Maguire’s book), but considerable changes are afoot in the Emerald City. Glinda (Ariana Grande) is now Glinda the Good Witch, upholding the facade of The Wizard’s regime as a glamorous, picture-perfect image of good, which includes a very public and planned engagement to Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), now Captain of the Guards. But more trouble is afoot, as Dorothy, Toto, and her trio of companions make their way along the newly constructed yellow brick road.
They’re not alone in their search for the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), of course, and we find Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now the Wicked Witch of the West, living as a fugitive after she decided to fight against the Wizard’s scheming. Her sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode,) is now the governor of Munchkinland, living with Boq (Ethan Slater), who is part captive, part love interest. Elphaba and Glinda are once again on different sides, but their bond compels them to try and see eye to eye, again and again.
Much of Wicked: For Good’s magic is unsurprisingly siphoned by its leading ladies, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. They continue their spellbinding run as Glinda and Elphaba, characterising their respective witches with every inch of the heart that you should expect to find in Wicked. The pair are on very different paths, Glinda living a very public lie and Elphaba finally living her truth, albeit from the shadows. Gone is the sincerity of Glinda’s glamorous charm, replaced by a panicked sadness that can’t help but shine through in everything Grande does. It melts into every moment, from her masterful take on Thank Goodness when everything starts to slip, to her disagreements with not only Elphaba, but everyone around her. Grande is truly miraculous in this role, and it seems hard to believe that so much doubt clouded her casting announcement four years ago. Her love for the world of Oz is felt in every single swish of her hair, and her physical comedy doesn’t miss a step. Everything that Glinda can’t admit to herself, never mind the world, shines through Grande’s facial expressions in ways that can’t help but bring you to tears. Landing the role of Glinda was a dream come true for Grande, and it has felt no less of a dream to watch her bring her to life.
Cynthia Erivo is equally as impressive, bringing her character’s arc to a close with remarkable grace. Banished and relentlessly hunted by the flying monkeys, Elphaba appears lonelier than ever. But years after we see her defy gravity, she has settled into her powers with new conviction. Erivo enacts Elphaba’s transition from the awkward, uncertain character we met a year ago to the powerful, assured version we meet in For Good with remarkable ease, communicating so much through her posture and hardened, yet equally vulnerable gaze. This physicality, coupled with vocals that are probably some of the best we might ever hope to hear in a musical, results in a conclusion for this character that feels not only lived and understood, but entirely Erivo’s own.
But it’s in between these moments of vocal prowess that Wicked: For Good struggles and falls into many of the same pitfalls as its stage counterpart. It takes on every inch of the required darker, sombre tone pretty immediately, which was always going to result in a loss of some of the whimsy and magic of its predecessor. Oz immediately feels less grand, which is to be expected, of course, as The Emerald City is no longer the playground of possibilities that Elphaba and Glinda discovered in One Short Day. But this immediate tonal shift feels weighty, largely due to our year-long wait as opposed to the traditional 15-minute interval in the show. I don’t think it’s too much to expect an audience to adjust their expectations going into a film’s second part, but in this instance, it feels a little jarring. This is an issue that a watch of both parts in succession would fix, which only reaffirms my wish that Wicked was given to us as one whole part. It is true that this might have been an entirely impossible task, but perhaps in some distant dreamland, Jon M. Chu has pulled it off.
It grapples to find the same oomph as part one right up until Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey (whose Fiyero is as perfect here as he was last year, by the way) belt out As Long As You’re Mine. This is a pattern that continues, as its pacing makes it veer on the side of messy and awkward, with particular scenes of dialogue feeling like a way to run up the clock in between musical numbers. While these musical numbers, particularly No Good Deed, where Cynthia Erivo hits an incredible opt-up, and of course the epic and heartbreaking concluding number, For Good, are spectacular, they end up feeling like a welcome break from the storytelling that precedes them. What results is a strange dichotomy that feels both rushed yet not fleshed out enough. More time could have been spent on aspects of the story that have always felt particularly underdeveloped, such as Dorothy’s arrival and Glinda’s conclusion. Instead, time is filled with the introduction of There’s No Place Like Home and The Girl In The Bubble, two new songs that are good but nothing particularly special. By the time Glinda and Elphaba’s emotional conclusion rolls around, it feels like we’ve been on an unfortunately lagging journey to get there.
With both parts out in the world, Jon M. Chu’s saunter into Oz comes to an end, and while Wicked: For Good is certainly imperfect, there is still much to love. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have more than solidified themselves as an onscreen partnership for the ages in an imagining of Oz that has, for the most part, lived up to the expectations of millions. Like all things, it has its downfalls (namely, some egregious lighting choices and the questionable decision to cast Michelle Yeoh in a singing role), but the magic that both parts of Wicked have managed to muster should be commended. From Paul Tazewell’s Oscar-winning costume design. To the immaculate depiction of love, friendship and sacrifice through its witches, Wicked, a tale of two movies, ends with a rather imperfect but nonetheless satisfying conclusion to a journey that will, without a doubt, change you for good.
★★★ 1/2
In cinemas November 21st / Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum / Dir: Jon M. Chu / Universal Pictures / PG
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