That was a long intermission! But alas, the time has come to take your seats and enjoy Act Two of Wicked. Last year’s Act One became the most successful Broadway film adaptation of all time and racked up a bunch of Oscar noms. Now Wicked: For Good is on track to make box office and award season waves because, c’mon, who leaves a good show at intermission?
So welcome back everybody! Wicked: For Good is plenty good, though I’ve already debated several friends on whether it’s better than the first movie. Here’s the deal: if you loved Wicked for the fun and the dancing and the earworms, then you may come out of Wicked: For Good a tad underwhelmed. If you prefer more meat on the bones, and less sauciness in your theatrical outings, than Wicked: For Good may edge out its predecessor by a healthy margin. Either way, don’t pay attention to the swinging pendulum of reviews that skewer or gush over the epic conclusion of the (previously) untold story of the Witches of Oz, Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba the Misunderstood (Cynthia Erivo). See it and decide for yourself. As with Act One, Wicked: For Good is best seen on a big screen to fully feel immersed in the fantastical setting that is Oz and to appreciate the songs that don’t ‘pop’ as majestically as those in Act One, but serve the narrative well.
Thankfully, the film assumes you caught the first two hours and 40 minutes of Glinda’s and Elphaba’s backstory. It picks up with both women living with the consequences of their actions and choices. Elphaba is hiding out in the woods, having been dubbed the “Wicked Witch” by the not-so-wonderful yet still revered Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and the maniacally manipulative Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). And Glinda has been annointed the symbol of goodness, floating around Oz in a self-driving bubble, tasked with convincing the people of Oz that the Wizard is still wonderful and everything will be okay, even though the animals of Oz are being persecuted, there’s a travel ban against the Munchkins, and the Wizard is really an authoritarian nut job.
And then there’s the dashing Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) who has stopped dancing through life and is now struggling with a crisis of conscience over the demonization of Elphaba.
Wicked: For Good runs a modest two hours and 18 minutes but there’s a lot to unpack, and it gets a bit clunky. There’s the critical heartbeat of the story— Glinda and Elphaba’s genuine, complicated friendship; a love triangle with Fiyero; various political machinations; and laying the groundwork for the Wizard of Oz as we know it from the 1939 classic, replete with a tornado, Dorothy, Toto, jeweled slippers, a Lion, a Tin Man, and a Scarecrow. Oh my!
Wicked: For Good has a bit of everything: heart, romance, drama, music. Grande and Erivo are enormously talented, as is Bailey, who was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive for a reason. And Goldblum has just the right mix of kookiness and mischievousness to be an excellent Wizard.
Bottom line: While I personally preferred “Act One” to “Act Two,” I enjoyed Wicked: For Good and recommend it to anyone who saw and liked Wicked. Intermission is over. Get back to your seats.
Random side note: I’m having a hard time getting past Elphaba’s wardrobe choice when things were getting steamy in her forest crash pad. A chunky wool sweater? Really? Apparently I’m not the only one. Check out this article in The Cut.
Wicked: For Good is in theaters now. It’s rated PG and runs 2 hours, 18 minutes.