Movie Review: Wicked: For Good

I try my best to avoid reading other people’s opinions of a movie before I get to review it myself so as not to have my thoughts affected. But I am a person who uses the internet and so it is inevitable that some of it will wind up in front of me, especially for a high-profile film like Wicked: For Good. Which means that I have seen that the movie is not particularly beloved among most critics. Having watched it over the weekend as part of a double feature with the first, I personally don’t understand why. Do I agree that it isn’t quite as good as part one? Yes. But I still think it’s pretty great.

Some time has passed since the events of Wicked, and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is living as an outcast in the woods, fighting for the rights of the increasingly ostracized animal citizens of Oz and hiding from the Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) forces. Glinda (Ariana Grande) has now become a spokesperson for the government, beloved by the populace and held up as a shining example of “good”-ness. Her relationship with Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), who now leads the Gale Force, is sold to the public as a happy ending straight out of a fairy tale, but behind the scenes he is less enamored with the current state of things and only seems to have taken his job to make sure that he gets to Elphaba before anyone else does in order to protect her.

The events of this movie are occurring simultaneously with those of The Wizard of Oz, though Dorothy (Bethany Weaver) is only barely ever seen. Anyone familiar with that film knows that this one is heading towards a tragic ending for at least one character, but it’s still a thrilling ride on the way there, with the nearly 2½ hour runtime flying by. Yes, the first Wicked is a little bit better, with more crowd-pleasing songs and the fun that goes with getting to know the characters while they also get to know themselves, but it’s still a treat getting to see where the story takes everyone, even if many of the characters do not have happy endings in store.

Everything looks and feels grand, leaving one wishing that they would recreate the world of the film in a theme park so that we could get to experience it for ourselves. While Act II isn’t as earworm heavy as Act I, none of the songs are bad, and “For Good” is perhaps the most emotionally impactful tune of the entire story, being almost impossible to get through with dry eyes, especially thanks to Erivo and Grande’s still perfect performances. The messaging about fascism and propaganda is brought even further into the foreground this time out and is both timely and impactful.

Director Jon M. Chu and writers Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox have done justice to Holzman and Stephen Schwartz’s original musical (loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s novel). While each half stand as fantastic movies in their own rights, taken as a whole, Wicked is one of the best movie musicals ever produced. A meaningful, moving, and massively entertaining spectacle of the highest order that audiences will treasure for years to come, haters be damned. ★★★★½