Wicked: For Good Review

As a Broadway musical, Wicked‘s strongest impact, with a couple of exceptions, is in the first act. Songs like “Popular,” “Dancing Through Life,” “What Is This Feeling?,” and especially “Defying Gravity” customarily bring the house down; they’re catchy, emotionally rich, and crowd-pleasing.

By comparison, the second act is more somber, reflective, and subtler. It’s also true that the first act is roughly an hour and a half and change, while the second act is much quicker – 40 or so minutes and then done.

So, the decision to split the musical into two feature-length films has its own set of issues. The first half, strictly speaking, sticks to the template of the play; while it’s longer, it flows with the same steady tempo as the play, and never feels lengthy or slow. It has such a strong finishing act that audiences may wonder where the play could go from there.

When I saw it on Broadway, my daughter got up after “Defying Gravity,” thinking it was finished (she had never really seen a Broadway musical before, so she was unfamiliar with intermissions), and was pleasantly surprised that there was more play to go.

Because of the nature of the second act, the play doesn’t exactly rush to the ending, but there isn’t much filler, either, which makes Wicked: For Good problematic; how do we fill the space? The answer is to create two new songs for the movie and give characters more to do.

But while Wicked Part One moves, Wicked: For Good sometimes stops dead in its tracks, and when it’s not paused, languidly moves from set piece to set piece, with little agency or rhythm. There are still great scenes full of emotion and musical splendor, but each moment is spaced out far too long, and what previously had pacing now feels shapeless and without urgency for much too often.

That’s not to say Wicked: For Good is a bad movie – it’s not. But it constantly reminds us that this story would have been much better served as one movie. A long movie, to be sure, but Wicked is so old-fashioned that an intermission in the middle would have felt elegant and appropriate, and kept its rhythms intact.

The play knows that its high point is “Defying Gravity,” so it steers into a more contemplative, quieter tone in the second half with a couple of exceptions. But strangely, the second movie doesn’t seem to realize that, and lurches forward trying to amp up scenes that played better understated on stage (and Wicked has never been a particularly delicate musical).

When Wicked: For Good does work, however, it works like gangbusters. Songs like “Wonderful” (with Jeff Goldblum doing his Jeff Goldblum thing) and “No Good Deed” bring the majesty and the thunder where appropriate, and the movie comes alive in those moments.

Both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera are as good as they were in the first film and bring subtler complexities to their characters’ journeys. Elphaba’s anger from the first film is honed into her sense of justice, and Glinda begins to realize her own limitations and her shortcomings, and both actors play those scenes perfectly.

Jonathan Bailey’s Fiero also goes through some dramatic changes in the course of the story, and Bailey successfully navigates those scenes with passion and excitement. Michelle Yeoh just isn’t as strong a singer as the role of Madame Morrible requires, and it’s a thankless role as the second villain of the piece, but she does the most with it she can.

I really liked Ethan Slater’s turn as Boq this time around; considering his character’s transformation, Slater brings real gravitas to his role (and it’s helped by some very cool and creepy makeup work). Marissa Bode’s Nessarose could have been awkward considering what happens to the character, but Bode brings real emotional weight to her scenes and a sense of sadness that carries over on screen.

The most intrinsic rule of musicals is that when a character sings, it’s because the character has no other choice – a song is the only way that character can express themselves properly, and each song carries the story forward as well as the character.

The two new songs in Wicked: For Good, “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble,” unfortunately do not follow this rule. They are nice showcases for each actor’s talent (Erivo and Grande-Butera specifically), and “The Girl in the Bubble” is shot in a very innovative and exciting way, but they don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about their characters or the story. They feel like they were thrust in there for awards consideration, which is probably the only reason they exist, but they aren’t particularly memorable or exciting as songs.

The songs from the musical fare way better, especially the best song of the second act and the title track, “For Good,” which wisely stays focused on Erivo and Grande-Butera. It’s a beautiful song, and Jon M. Chu directs this scene with grace and restraint. There’s a shot in it, as Elphaba and Glinda are separated by a door, that is devastating in its emotional impact, and often Chu feels engaged and excited throughout.

It’s during the filler moments, of which there are too many, that it feels like Chu would have much rather made this one film but had his hand forced by the studio. But Chu is a natural at musicals, and I hope he gets to make more of them.

I’m not an advocate of fan edits, but if someone were to do that to Wicked Part One and Wicked: For Good, I’d be interested in seeing it; this needed to be one film. The studio should have gone old school with it and turned Wicked into an experience not unlike the musicals of old. An intermission, well-timed, can make a movie feel so much larger than the sum of its parts, and I miss them.

As it stands, fans will be happy, but they could have been lifted beyond the rafters had this been a true adaptation. I imagine fans will be satisfied, but sometimes more isn’t necessarily better. In the case of Wicked: For Good, the more distracts from the good, and scenes that could have had a much more powerful impact are undercut by the scenes that simply lay there. I can still recommend the movie because when it works, it truly works. But what could have been great, like the film’s title, is merely good.

WICKED: FOR GOOD REVIEW RATING: 6.5 OUT OF 10

Universal Pictures will open Wicked: For Good in theaters on Friday, November 21. The film has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) for action/violence, some suggestive material, and thematic material.