After years of dominating Broadway and musical stages across the globe, 2024 finally saw “Wicked” grace movie theaters the world over to critical and financial success. Well, it saw the first act of “Wicked” grace movie theaters, as Universal and director John M. Cho (“In the Heights,” “Crazy Rich Asians”) saw fit to split the behemoth into two films, expanding on the tale and character arcs in each. Now, one year after the first, we have the second act of the musical in film form as “Wicked: For Good.”
Set some time after the events of the first film and act, “For Good” sees Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet,” “Bad Times at the El Royale”), villainized by the Wizard of Oz, played by Jeff Goldblum (“Jurassic Park,” “Thor: Ragnarok”), and Madame Morrible, played by Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Crazy Rich Asians”). In order to keep the Wizard in the good graces of the people of Oz, they’ve fabricated a story of Elphaba and the talking animals of Oz being responsible for the recent issues in the land, propping up Elphaba’s former friend Glinda, played by Ariana Grande (“Victorious,” “Sam & Cat”), as the Good Witch of Oz and Elphaba as the Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba’s attempts to speak truth to the people of Oz and dethrone the Wizard’s powers eventually come to a head as a tornado blows into the land, bringing a young Kansas girl along with it.
Notoriously so, the second act of “Wicked” as a Broadway musical is... less good than the first. Most of the moments and songs people know from the show all come from the first act, and that rings true for the film version as well. Like the first film, co-writers Winnie Holzman (“Roadies”) and Dana Fox (“Cruella,” “The Lost City”) have expanded the second act as well, adding additional scenes and, unlike with the first film, new songs. Those expansions, unfortunately, add little to the overall story and serve to simply extend what is already a fairly long and overdrawn film. The two new songs added certainly fit within the film (if you didn’t know they were added, you likely wouldn’t notice), but they are fluff compared to the others, repeating already established plot and character developments in a different way.
Erivo and Grande’s performances are still fantastic, and when the pair of them are together, the film becomes magical. The gradual evolutions of these characters are really fascinating to watch, and their arcs help the film build toward its gradual point about fascism and media manipulations. Goldblum keeps the same kind of weird, very Goldblum-y charm that he always has in spades, and it keeps his wizard unique. Not much has changed about Yeoh’s performance in this film versus the first, however her singing is far grander here than before. Which is unfortunate as, in a film packed full of singers, Broadway and otherwise, her average voice stands out far more than it otherwise would.
The supporting cast feels mostly forgotten about this time around, with many of the performances being fine but simply disparate in the plot itself. Marissa Bode, Ethan Slatter (“Lost on a Mountain in Maine”), and Johnathan Bailey (“Jurassic World Rebirth,” “Bridgerton”) all return as Nessarose, Boq, and Fiyero respectively, but you’d be hard pressed to notice. While Bode's role is understandably slim, Slatter simply vanishes from the film for the entirety of the third act. Bailey meanwhile is more present but seems to have the same care given to his character as the one-dimensional damsels that populated 1960s black-and-white noir films. Their performances are fine, doing the best they can with what they’re given, but the script simply doesn’t do them any favors.
The biggest issue with why this second half simply fails to elicit the same excitement as the first really does come down to the script and overall plotting. Given the simultaneous shooting schedules, the film maintains the same fantastic costuming work, production designs, cinematography, and visual effects that helped bring this vision of Oz to life in the first. While there are a handful of odd sore spots, such as the film's interpretation of the Scarecrow, it's mostly excellent work across the board just as before.
“Wicked: For Good” was likely always going to be a slight dip from the first film given the status of the original musical’s second act. However, the new songs and expansions certainly don’t help matters. As it stands, this is still an entertaining film, with performances that help overcome the weaker extended material almost in spite of itself. The technical merits remain as great as the first film’s, and those who are already completely on board are unlikely to be swayed, but the magic isn’t as strong as before. 3.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment