Film review: Wicked: For Good

When we last left our heroines in Oz – the green-skinned, misaligned, misunderstood Wicked Witch Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) was beating a hasty westward exit on a broomstick, whilst Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande-Butera), having aided her escape, chooses instead a gilded cage of captivity for herself.

A measure of time has passed, and we learn quickly that this is a dark season for the Land of Oz.  Animals, once the merry peers of the human citizens, are cruelly relegated to manual labour and banned from talking – enslaved, oppressed, building a yellow brick road, or serving at the whims of the duplicitous Wizard (Jeff Goulblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeo).

The propaganda machine is in full swing against Elphaba, literal pages churning out over the streets of the Emerald City – an essential cog of which is Glinda: the good, the lonely, the miserable. A twisted inversion of the glowing young woman from the first act, she is surrounded by beautiful chattering idiots, yet wholly and desperately alone. Elphaba, too, is battling her customary loneliness in a wild tree-house castle, shunned and feared by all – yet, she is free; a far better fate than Glinda.

As we reconvene with all the other players – Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), still screen-meltingly handsome, Boq (Ethan Slater), still longing for Glinda, and Nessa (Marissa Bode), still the absolute worst – we see that all of their circumstances have changed, none for the better.

While this world unpacks in swirls of colour and song, the characters pine for the way things were – with several dreamy vignettes from the first film replayed on screen. How true it is – for us all – that the sweetness of these youthful recollections have all the sharp barbs removed with the passage of time.

Because the truth is, these memories played out on screen remind the viewer that this film is not as strong a body of work as the first instalment. It was always going to be an uphill battle; the first act of the stage show, on which Wicked was based, famously carries the bulk of the toe-tapping tunes, quippy one-liners and narrative beats.
The songs in this act feel more laboured, harder work to connect to, and just looooong.

There are some notable exceptions – the reprise of ‘I’m not that Girl”, a heartbreaking torch song as Glinda wanders through the trampled pink remains of her hopes and dreams, and the final duet between the two best friends “For Good”, (during which I struggled not to openly weep), offer a glimmer of magical wonder from the first film.
For Wizard of Oz nerds (such as myself) there are some terrific easter eggs – you don’t get to see her face, but our favourite basket-wielding teenager from Kansas makes an appearance, along with her companions the Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and of course Toto.

The romantic plotline between Elphaba and Fiyero meanders along to a bitter-sweet conclusion, but the real love story here is between Glinda and Elphaba. Their connection to each other – enduring time and distance; misunderstanding, betrayal, and the dire circumstances of life in an oppressive Oz is what truly drives the heart of this grand and ambitious tale. Their final farewell – as they embrace and apologise and weep, accepting their respective fates is heartbreaking and beautiful.

So, whilst maybe not the stronger instalment, this film is worth seeing on the big screen. I’ll be taking my own little munchkin along to the cinema this weekend to catch it. What a wonderful world director Jon Chu has brought to life, and a wonderful gift to cinema – one that will be a classic double feature for decades to come.

Verdict: 3 out of 5
For hardcore fans who knew dividing the stage musical in two would result in a weaker second half, but no one can say Jon Chu doesn’t know how to keep the momentum going.