WICKED: FOR GOOD Review

Let’s set the stage: thirty years after the original Gregory Maguire revisionist novel was released and just over twenty years after it was adapted into a musical stage play we have the conclusion of the two-part film adaptation of the musical that frames the Wicked Witch of the West in a more sympathetic if not less cynical light than was created by original Wonderful Wizard of Oz author Frank L. Baum and made infamous in the 1939 film. The Wicked Witch of the West, known as Elphaba Thropp in the world of Wicked and portrayed by Cynthia Erivo in the films, is as complex a character as any story might hope to have at the center of it. She is made an outcast, a revolutionary, along with clearly being one of the most inherently powerful beings to exist in her fictional world…why not use such an arc to explore multiple themes or craft it as a metaphor for any point in history - or period to come - in which shallow dictators weaponize our differences in order to ostracize those deemed as threats when simply different than the preferences of those with power? Especially poignant now, yes?

Such timeless ideas and such ongoing debates will seemingly never lose their potency but this was also the chief challenge presented to director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) who was not only tasked with bringing this story and these hugely revered songs to life through the medium of film but with finding a new way into this story that had been seen by millions the world over. Chu never lost the strong point of view instilled in Maguire’s work but the main point of content with “Part I” is that it didn’t consist of a strong directorial voice; it created a world, built the foundation of this central relationship yet none of it felt especially personal or powerful (or tangible) despite the dispersal of several totemic tunes. Whether more invested in the second half of the story himself or simply a result of finding his footing and becoming more comfortable/confident as production went on (assuming they shot somewhat chronologically), Chu’s flourishes as a filmmaker help make Wicked: For Good not simply the more interesting act from a narrative perspective but the more compelling and impressive case for said themes and ideas that will obviously (and unfortunately) never lose said potency.

Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) is taken off guard by Glinda's (Ariana Grande) announcement of their engagement.
Photo by Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures - © Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Picking up four years after the events of the first film, the yellow brick road has completed construction and Elphaba has fled the city of Oz. The newly labeled “Wicked Witch” has holed up on the outskirts while formulating both how she might expose Jeff Goldblum’s The Wizard and how to free the sapient animals that have been forced from their homes and jobs due to whatever allegorical form of prejudice you’d like to map onto The Wizard and Madame Morrible’s (Michelle Yeoh) reasoning. The quibbles with how the film conveys the amalgamation of Maguire’s original source material with Stephen Schwartz’s music and Winnie Holzman’s book begin with the lack of clarity in the Wizard and Morrible’s motivations and continue into trying to contort both the justification of Ariana Grande's Glinda’s conflicting feelings along with the original Wizard of Oz story. This struck me as strange considering I’ve seen the stage production and can recall reading about the differences in the novel and what changed when it was adapted as a musical yet never have so many of the multiple reveals in this second half felt as rushed or convoluted as they do at certain points in the film version. Conversely, there are moments where the betrayal and sought after vindication really work both thematically and dramatically. For instance, it’s almost a shame how little time is devoted to the dynamic between Boq (Ethan Slater) and Nessarose (Marissa Bode) whose mountains of unhappiness, inadequacies, and the combination of anger and hate that comes as a result are kind of the keystone in just how easy it is for relationships and systems to devolve. There are moments though, really powerful moments that make one want to forgive the leaps and twists too often required to credibly get from one plot point to the next.

As is known, this is obviously Elphaba and Glinda’s story and ultimately Elphaba’s even if the friendship between these two women is at the heart of what makes the life and times of the Wicked Witch worth exploring. While the first film, which is very much the first half of this single story, showed cracks of who these characters would become in For Good both Elphaba and Glinda become more fully fleshed out in what are surprisingly unexpected ways. Whereas Erivo played things closer to the chest in the school-based portion of the story, the Elphaba character is given much more reign here to explore the power she actually has over her own life. Beyond the love triangle that involves Jonathan Bailey's Fiyero, Elphaba is largely attempting to correct the spell she cast to create the army of flying monkeys. As per the mythology of this world, no spell cast from the "Grimmerie' - a powerful, ancient spellbook of unknown origin - can be reversed. Elphaba's hope is that she might at least set the monkeys free as they are being utilized by the Wizard to inflict violence and carry out his totalitarian agenda. Elphaba confronts both Glinda and the Wizard in multiple instances to combat the authoritarianism he seeks to impose, calling both of them out on how they've complicated her intentions with their blame game and how their manipulations of her public perception is nothing short of straight-up propaganda; again, themes that were only hinted at in the first half that have higher stakes this time around and are therefore more meaningful. This is what the whole of Wicked seeks to address, the making of Elphaba as an outcast solely due to the color of her skin despite the interesting wrinkle that she is of noble birth. Her further exile due to her political beliefs that conflict with those seeking to maintain their unearned positions of power show how the film stands firm in its beliefs despite not always effectively conveying that the nuance is where the heartache lies.

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is intent on exposing the Wizard's lies and setting her animal friends free in Wicked: For Good.
Photo by Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures - © Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

On the other end of this relationship is Grande's Glinda who is more restrained but just as effective in her performance this time around. Glinda is torn between fulfilling the aspirations she has held her whole life regarding status and authority and the obligation to her friend who she knows is in the more honorable position no matter how difficult this is to face and accept. I don't know that the screenplay gives Glinda the right leverage or a complete enough arc to really garner any audience sympathy, but Grande continues to exhibit her comic timing and incredible voice in such a fashion we want to continue to believe Glinda is earnest in her intent even though the aforementioned cynicism found laced in the source material would suggest not all is as it seems with the “good” witch either. Again, these are depths to the characters that go largely unexplored due to the obligation of the original Baum narrative where instead of further exploring whether Glinda is simply weak or conniving in deeper ways than thought capable we are instead introduced to a cowardly CGI lion whom has the smallest of links to Elphaba’s past but whose testimony more or less shifts the entirety of those left on her side towards abandoning her. It’s not that these links aren’t cool and fun to put together - the young moviegoers sitting in front of me who clearly had no prior knowledge of how things unfolded certainly loved doing exactly that - it’s more that some of the high stakes of the relationships between core characters are too often undercut by extraneous facets that are more cute than critical.

Speaking of cute, one might be facetious enough to drill down on the silliness of this whole thing - is there a mandate all women must wear green eye shadow in Oz? - but while For Good still suffers from some of the initial installments biggest causes for complaints a la the zapped out color grading, the overabundance (and reliance) on CGI, and the bad lighting to try and counter balance each of those other issues these are technical quibbles with a film that has a built-in audience already immersed in this world and these characters ready to see this story brought to life in a way they’ve not experienced before. While these technical failings are certainly disappointing what was more so about the first film was that Chu offered very little by way of making Oz and more importantly, the musical numbers, feel cinematic. Do these shortcomings still plague “Part II” at times? Sure, especially considering that not only are there fewer musical numbers but less of the iconic tunes for the film to anchor its structure. While building towards the admittedly powerful titular track there are notable moments in which Chu is able to take the musical numbers and integrate camera techniques and shot selections that not only enhance the music but compliment the lyrics. This is most apparent during a new song titled “The Girl in the Bubble” in which Chu utilizes a sequence of mirrors to emphasize Glinda’s feelings of wanting to be seen and respected while simultaneously feeling trapped. It is a sequence such as this, where different departments come together to create a singular vision where every element is doing some work on a story level that makes for the justification of a film adaptation of this already hugely successful Broadway show. Of course, I wish these sparks of inspiration and sheer creativity might have shown up more frequently throughout both films yet For Good manages to find its footing often enough with a more critical look at its themes and by simply being a more substantial artistic endeavor. These growing pains give this conclusion a measure of success as the version of this story that will now be the most known and most referenced for years and generations to come even if it doesn't necessarily reach the heights of which it was capable.