Wicked: For Good picks up sometime after the first film and follows the Wicked Witch and her battle against the wizard for the freedom of Oz and her relationship with Glinda and Glinda wrestling with her own feelings between her loyalty to the Wicked Witch and her new position in the Emerald City as “Glinda the Good.”
Small nitpick right off the bat… The film could’ve done better at establishing how much time has passed between films. Like, they say it’s been “12 ocean cycles” since the Wicked Witch escaped, so I thought maybe it had been 12 months, but then I heard my friend say in the play it’s supposed to be four years, so I don’t know how long it’s been? I wish we had gotten a better indication about how much time had passed.
The best thing about the film, in my opinion, is the special effects and the color palette. This film is very bright and vibrant; it’s like an Easter party exploded in pastels lol. The film has a great deal of spectacle, although some sequences do feel a little bit wooden and undershot. Like, I thought the final big emotional number between the wicked witch and Galinda felt very undershot and kind of flat. It’s supposed to be like this big sweeping emotional number like defying gravity was, and I’m sure the filmmakers wanted to make it feel more personal between the characters, and that’s why they filmed it the way they did, but unfortunately it takes a scene that should’ve been more grandiose and just makes it feel a bit too undercooked.
I am no expert in musicals, but I thought the numbers were good. I’ve seen that some people aren’t as impressed as with the first, and while I agree they aren’t as catchy as some of the first one, I thought as a continuation of the story, the music fits with the other film perfectly.
I feel mixed on the characters. I think Grande and Arrivo’s performances are very strong and passionate, and Jeff Goldblum brings a lot of devilish charm as the wizard, but the wicked witch’s sister felt very rushed and almost manic in her emotional decision-making. Michelle Yeoh's character is fun in a conniving villain sort of way but felt underdeveloped as far as motivation. Plus, her resolution was very rushed and doesn’t make much narrative sense given exactly what she can do.
Unfortunately, one of the places the film wavers is the incorporation of the original Wizard of Oz characters into the film; they feel rushed and almost out of place with the rest of the story. It’s like the movie can decide if it’s going to be a direct tie-in to the original film or if it’s going to be its own thing like Maleficent or Cruella. It tries to have its cake and eat it too, and unfortunately the two melt together like peanut butter and oil.
Like certain characters have these big setups, but absolutely no payoff; some feel like an afterthought, and some feel like they needed much more explanation.
Also, they don’t spend a whole lot of time on the wicked witches’ “fight for animal freedom,” like it was a big driving force and set up in the first one, but it doesn’t play as big a role in the story as I expected.
This also affects the pacing as well; certain plot elements felt like they went on a bit too long, and others felt like they could’ve used more screen time. I do think the film is entertaining enough throughout to keep people’s interest, but the more you think about it, the sloppier the story seems.
I have mixed feelings on Jon M. Chu’s direction. Like, he’s good with the big crowded scenes, and I think it gets pretty creative with some shots like “the girl in the bubble” musical sequence. But others feel rather flat, like the final scene between the Wicked Witch and Glinda. It’s written and feels like this big emotional scene between the two characters and kind of a payoff to the whole story, but the way it’s filmed feels so underutilized that it takes away some of the emotional payoff from the scene.
I think whoever the costume designer is has a very good chance of winning the Oscar this year; the costumes are very well detailed and distinct, and for so many different background characters, they come up with a lot of interesting patterns and designs.
I wouldn’t say Wicked: For Good is a bad film; it’s creative, and you want to see how everything concludes, but it definitely doesn’t live up to its own potential as a sequel to the first film or as a tie-in to the bigger Wizard of Oz mythos. I give Wicked: For Good a high three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ it’s more like “Wicked: For OK”, but that’s not as catchy a title lol.
