Wicked: For Good continues the story of what happened before The Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch’s point of view. The first film was visually dazzling and an emotionally rich spectacle, but For Good occasionally stumbles by lacking narrative depth, even as it raises the stakes and reinvents what we think we already know.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are back in their roles as Glinda and Elphaba, and they once again enact their magical destinies through songs and the colorful world of Emerald City. Elphaba has disappeared and is fighting for animal rights, while Glinda is engaged to the prince Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey).
Elphaba is seen as a scapegoat and encounters the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). He and Glinda try to convince Elphaba to join their side and allay the fears Emerald City has of her, but she discovers a dark secret that keeps her from joining. Thus, the friendship between the two girls is broken further apart.
The movie gives several nods to the original classic film, such as the Yellow Brick Road being built, the Ruby Slippers being put on Elphaba’s sister Nessa’s (Marissa Bode) feet, and her impending fate of having Dorothy’s house drop on her when she arrives. The tornado that brings Dorothy to Oz is created by Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh).
As with the previous film, this sequel is a visual feast that depicts the Land of Oz with convincing special effects and offers environments and landscapes beyond the Emerald City. Nearly all the visuals are terrific technically, but sometimes they suffer from chronic overload.
As for the rest of the movie, For Good lacks the heft of the first film. This could be due, in part, to the predictability or to director Jon M. Chu and the rest of the filmmakers’ padding the movie with superfluous material.
My consideration for the movie lies primarily in its technical qualities, which are again superb, and in the performances of Grande and Erivo. They still shine with their magnetic, charismatic presences in many sequences and are the movie’s core, even when it lacks emotional resonance.
I hope I’m not alone in thinking this second half is moderately entertaining, but I think the filmmakers misplaced something along the Yellow Brick Road.
