It’s rare that a picture has me as perplexed as Wicked: For Good does. Even though it was filmed back-to-back with its Academy Award–winning predecessor, this one looks a lot better. There’s less digital sludge, the backgrounds have additional tactile pop (and aren’t nearly as intentionally blurry), and the still-impressive sets have a noticeable physicality. All of this and more was lacking from the initial chapter of this revisionist journey to the merry old land of Oz, adapted from the smash Broadway musical and based on the best-selling book by Gregory Maguire.
Additionally, stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are as terrific as ever as, respectively, the not-so-wicked Wicked Witch of the West Elphaba and Glinda the Good. The final musical number, with the two coming together in total harmony after spending the majority of the sequel on opposite sides, is beautifully staged (even if the song, “For Good,” is only a bit better than so-so). For me, this was the definitive high-water mark, which, for a brief moment, left an authentically earned smile upon my face.
So what’s the problem? The truth is that the story isn’t engaging. It is horribly paced. It brings up interesting ideas involving fascism, gender, sexism, racism, friendship, and found family and then does almost nothing of consequence. Director Jon M. Chu can’t seem to generate forward momentum. Elphaba is pushed into the background of a story that is by all accounts supposed to be focused on her, leaving Glinda to barnstorm into the pink-bubbled spotlight instead. Secondary characters and subplots are tossed around like glittery confetti and almost instantly forgotten.
Granted, these were all issues that plagued the Broadway production as well. The best songs were all in the first act. So were many of the more intriguing story beats. But that show, barely running 150 minutes (a good ten shorter than Wicked: Part One), didn’t allow audiences to dwell on the narrative inadequacies. Instead, it was a full-on sprint to the finish, filled with several gigantic L. Frank Baum Oz tie-ins that had audience members gasping and pointing at the stage.
Here, however, this latest jaunt down the yellow brick road is a seat-numbing 138 minutes. Two new songs are added, one for each of the witches, and neither of them is anything special (Elphaba’s is by far the stronger of the two, but Glinda’s is more interestingly staged). Aspects of the book that couldn’t make it into the Broadway production are added, but not as many as there might have been (especially considering the running time). Instead, Chu filters in frequent momentum-killing flashbacks to the previous film, almost all of which are tediously unnecessary.
If not for Erivo and Grande, it would almost be impossible to believe that the same team that crafted the first half of this epic musical was also responsible for its concluding installment. Precious little is fun, and even less showcases imagination. The best bits, such as Elphaba confronting her sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) — now the hardhearted governor of Munchkinland — with her selfish hypocrisy and both of them getting disastrously caught up in the perilous limitations of magical incantations, are rushed through so quickly that they become frustratingly meaningless. Others, like the talking animals potentially leaving Oz for the perils of an interdimensional wasteland or the flying monkeys learning who it was that really betrayed them, barely register at all.
Thankfully, Erivo and Grande are still here, and they are marvelous, the latter in particular. The two actors have beguiling chemistry, and the few times the plot brings Elphaba and Glinda together are unquestionably its best moments. The sheer joy of their song-and-dance routine alongside Jeff Goldblum (returning to yuck it up as the not-so-magical Wizard of Oz) is infectious, while the intimately affecting power of “For Good” is undeniable.
Yet even this facet of the production is vexing. This is Elphaba’s tale. She’s at the center of it. She’s the one who is fighting for Oz, the one attempting to show up the Wizard and his propaganda-creating right-hand woman, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), as the despots they are. Elphaba is the witch who must deal with tragedy firsthand, whether it be the unfortunate transformations of some of those dearest to her into tin figures or beings made entirely of straw, or in seeing the animals she’s trying to protect turn their backs on her in fear. She is the one who has to suffer through the agonizing aftermath of a farmhouse falling from the sky and landing smackdab in the middle of Munchkinland.
But while all that is part of the story, it’s hard not to feel like Chu, along with screenwriters Winnie Holzman (who wrote the book of the Broadway production) and Dana Fox, couldn’t have cared less about their primary protagonist. Instead, all of the best visual and dramatic moments are given to Glinda. Though Grande is more than up to the challenge, showcasing a physicality and internalized dexterity that’s sensational, it’s still a bewildering turn of events. Glinda slowly becomes the main character, stealing Elphaba’s thunder and often relegating her to the sidelines. It’s annoying.
I’m not going to go into the ins and outs of the plot. It should be clear where everything is going, and by the time Dorothy (and her little dog too) show up, even those completely unfamiliar with the Broadway showcase or Maguire’s source material should still have a strong idea of how things will turn out. Chu, to his credit, isn’t concealing anything on that front, and while I know this may sound counterintuitive, this is one instance where being conscious of the outcome helps increase the overall emotional stakes, not diminish them.
All of this only leads me back to where I started — a state of disgruntled bafflement. The technical aspects are too strong, and the performances by Erivo and Grande are much too sublime to dismiss this sequel outright. Still, much like the con man hiding behind the curtain, utilizing sleight of hand and subterfuge to convince the easily fooled that his powers are beyond all imagining, Wicked: For Good has precious little in the way of any actual magic. One might even go so far as to call it a bona fide dud.
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