Wicked: For Good

Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Wicked: For Good.

Introduction

Based on the second half of the play, its amazing how Jon Chu could expand the play into two separate 2-hour movies. Many small things were added and changed, and a number of song numbers were made to fit into the movie, but in general, the 2 movies stayed true to its source.

Wicked for Good is a great curtain fall for Jon Chu’s adaptation of the play, I’m just curious if Chu would continue on with the adaptations of the Wicked book series. I myself haven’t read a single book from the series, but I think the play differs from the book, so am not sure if the movie could continue on with Son of the Witch as its next adaptation.

“Now demonized as the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba lives in exile in the Ozian forest, while Glinda resides at the palace in Emerald City, reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, she’ll need to reunite with Glinda to transform herself, and all of Oz, for good.”

Characters

Ariana Grande (as Glinda) continues to impress me with her eccentric, gullible and very sunshine character, if that made any sense. Her portrayal of Glinda reminds me of how she was in Victorious (2010) as Cat Valentine. Ariana proved herself to be a very versatile artist.

Cynthia Erivo (as Elphaba) in my opinion didn’t live up to my expectations. Unfair, but it was inevitable to be compared to Idina Menzel’s portrayal of the character, moreover, Idina’s was a theater play, yet she was able to emit more emotions with her facial expressions and gestures. Erivo’s was too… dead. It felt emotionless and that made it hard to get that emotional connection with the audience.

As always, Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh was exceptional, as little screen time as they had, it was a pleasure.

Forgettable Ballads

While there were songa remade to fit the movie and scene at hand, new pieces such as “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble” were very forgettable and it felt unnecessary. Added that they sang it with too much extra flavor, you get what I mean? Sometimes, less is more.

Don’t Fix What’s Not Broken

The song “For Good” was supposed to be the counterpart of Act 1’s “Defying Gravity”. If “Defying Gravity” was supposed to empower you, “For Good” was made to break us down in tears and pull on those heartstrings. Unfortunately, they wanted it to be “theirs” so bad that they changed the phrasing and tone of it and the magic was not there anymore. Just stick to the original, its okay, we’ll even thank you for it.

It Was Too Damn Long

Wicked’s (2024) run time clocked in at 2 hr. 40 mins., at first I was skeptical because the original broadway play runs at 2 hrs. 30 mins. (Excluding the 15-minute intermission) but they proved me wrong. Every second was great and they were able to keep it interesting for the whole duration. Sadly, Wicked For Good cannot, it felt like the budget was 70% Wicked and 30% For Good. The set pieces felt smaller in some way, as grand as their productions may have seemed, you’d still notice the difference.

What I Didn’t Like

• It was hard to emotionally connect with Erivo’s character due to her lack of emotional projection (facial expression, gestures, body language).
• For Good had no answer to Wicked’s (2024) “Defying Gravity”. There weren’t any iconic song number I could think of from the movie.
• For Good was stretched out too much to cover the run time, I think they could’ve fit everything in a one 3-hour plus movie.

Final Thoughts

Wicked For Good was a good closing to the Broadway film adaptation, but it felt incomplete at times. Some scenes felt like unnecessary fillers where if you cut them out, you could easily fit it all in a 3-hour plus movie. My suggestion, just wait for it to become available on streaming services, its not worth falling in line for and definitely not worth the IMAX experience.