ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Some of you might remember around this time last year, I saw the first part of my favorite stage musical “Wicked” debut on the big screen and ended up being absolutely blown away by what director Jon M. Chu and the movie’s cast and crew were able to put together after what felt (to me) like FOREVER.
After what seemed like another eternity, the second part finally made its way into the theaters, and I ended up enjoying my return to Oz. For those who are unaware, “Wicked” explores the friendship between Elphaba (who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz”) and Galinda Upland (who becomes Glinda the Good). “For Good” picks up where the first half ended, with Elphaba more or less in exile and Glinda being the face of Oz’s Emerald City and seemingly exceedingly happy with her circumstances.
In my review of “Wicked,” I gushed a lot over the cast, and everyone involved deserves praise for their performances this time around as well. Cynthia Erivo absolutely cements her spot in “Wicked” history as leading lady Elphaba and like with the first part, her voice absolutely soars with every song she sings, and she pulls out EVERY trick she has with “No Good Deed,” which I knew she would slay anyway. She continues to have great rapport with Ariana Grande as Glinda and the rest of the cast, and she DEFINITELY deserves some awards recognition come the upcoming season. Ariana Grande is still wonderful as Glinda and perfectly captures her learning to truly be good for her people. It was a very good creative choice to have “Wicked: For Good” be more of Glinda’s story and her evolution toward Glinda the Good. This is particularly shown with Glinda’s first song, “Thank Goodness/Couldn’t Be Happier” – she sings more high pitched and cheery in the beginning vs. a lower register later in the song, and viewers can really feel how she's putting up a front for her people. Other supporting characters get the chance to shine throughout the movie, including Jonathan Bailey as leading man Fiyero (who gets some absolutely stellar moments) and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, who makes her absolutely despicable and made me think “I hope you step on thumbtack-infested LEGOS for the rest of your days!” Overall, the cast for the movie could NOT have been better picked.
I mentioned in my review of the first part how the political undertones didn’t escape my notice, and I feel like those were made even more prevalent this time around, especially with the storylines of Animals having rights taken away and then later on the Munchkins. The parallels to what is happening today are absolutely there, and the whole “Animals shouldn’t have any rights and should be shoved out of their lives/homes” hits WAY too close to home with both modern times and other historical instances. I can’t 100 percent say if that’s what Jon M. Chu intended, but it DEFINITELY works.
There were a couple new songs written specifically for the movie, and I actually ended up having a bit of mixed feelings about them. Elphaba gets “No Place Like Home,” which is a call to stay and fight to improve their home and not just run away without, and I feel like that could be applied to people today – again I can’t fully say if that was Jon M. Chu’s intention, but that was IMMEDIATELY what came to mind for me. Glinda also gets a new song, “Girl in the Bubble,” and I felt like THAT’s when viewers truly get to see inside Glinda’s brain and really know how she feels. While both songs are absolutely well performed and well written, I couldn’t help but think they felt rather forced in and they just didn’t fit in quite as smoothly as I would have liked.
The cinematography continues to be an absolute win, and “Wicked: For Good” is just as vibrant and colorful as the first part, and there are so many scenes that are just pure eye candy. The Glinda/Fiyero wedding scene is especially gorgeous, and I can’t help but feel like Jon M. Chu should now direct every cinematic wedding scene until the end of time, because the man definitely knows what a dream wedding should look like, and he’s not afraid to go all out. I also enjoyed how dark and scary “No Good Deed” was, and that scene is sheer perfection. As I said in my first review, Jon M. Chu proves beyond a doubt he was the right director for this project and had a solid vision for how he wanted everything to look and feel, especially the movie’s very final shot. This movie definitely deserves multiple awards for cinematography alone come the upcoming season.
While I overall enjoyed the movie, there was a part of me that felt something was missing. I’m not sure if that was because of the year-long break between the two parts or if it’s because I know the show and music as well as I do, but I felt like there was an extra element of surprise (or maybe magic) that was missing.
Overall, I very much enjoyed my return to the land of Oz and would give “Wicked: For Good” a solid “B” grade. Jon M. Chu proved himself with this project, and the cast delivered just as much in this part as in part one, particularly leading ladies Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The story’s political undertones became more prevalent this time around, and if you happen to miss them, you’re CHOOSING to miss them, in my opinion. There were also some changes to the music in this part that ended up garnering some mixed feelings from me, and the cinematography remains absolutely stellar this time around. If you’re a “Wicked” fan, whether it’s the stage show or the movie, “Wicked: For Good” is definitely a good one to watch.
