Take 44: Wicked for Good

Wicked: For Good picks up a year after the events of last year’s Wicked. Since then, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) has continued her animal rights crusade which puts her at odds with The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) who have branded her Public Enemy #1. Meanwhile, Glinda (Ariana Grande) has continued her rise to prominence as the Wizard’s “Good Girl” poster child and is now engaged to Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) who is captain of the Wizard’s guard. As Elphaba tries to expose The Wizard and Morrible, she finds a herself at odds with her friend, Glinda which serves at the major thrust of the film.

This is the part where I usually go into the acting, but not much to say here. They all nail it! The casting is totally correct. If I were to single anyone out, I will say Ariana’s little physical flourishes are hysterical and seeing Michelle Yeoh being so dastardly are high points among a plethora of high points. And Erivo’s rendition of “No Good Deed”- wow!

This movie had so much ground to cover and it succeeds on all counts. We got to see the construction of the Yellow Brick Road, The origin of Glinda’s bubble brought it to my attention just how powerless Glinda really was. We got to see Nessarose become the character whose death would inspire celebration and the real reason why those slippers were so doggone important. We also got origins of the Scrarecrow and Tin Woodsman. The story of the infamous cyclone is revealed. We got another crucial piece of Elphaba’s origin, and a final confrontation between Elphaba and Glinda, and the resolution of a love triangle, all in a shorter run time than part one. It even fits that girl from Kansas into the story without making it all about her. No mean feat.

I went into this feeling a bit trepidatious- Elphaba was definitely giving protagonist energy throughout the first movie. We know how The Wizard of Oz and I actually read the novel that inspired this, so I wasn’t sure enough could be done to make me turn on the character. I am happy to say that, having never seen the musical, I was satisfied with the way it ended. It was nice to actually be a surprised.

After all was said and done, I don’t think I have any notes. This one sticks the landing. I have a couple of minor issues/questions about the plot (like why, if she knows that Elphaba has an issue with water, doesn’t Madame Morrible just summon a monsoon to rid herself of her? ) but these are more problems with the source material than the film. I am gonna be Wicked and give this one a 9.9.

Now, you know what you can do “for good”? Leave a comment. And until next time…