It’s a little difficult to review “Wicked: For Good” because it’s not a film in itself. It’s the conclusion to a story, and it has kind of an Act Two feeling about it.
But both films, as directed by Jon M. Chu, from the musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, embody something movie audiences have been starving for — an old-fashioned spectacle with color, energy and all the cogs of the Hollywood machine working at top form.
And at the center is the story of an anguished friendship between two heroines who met as schoolgirls — green-skinned outcast Elphaba Thropp (played by Cynthia Erivo) and entitled blond princess Galinda (or Glinda) Upland (played by Ariana Grande-Butera).
As the new film opens, the Yellow Brick Road is being built on the grunt labor of Oz’s oppressed animals. Elphaba is now the legendary Wicked Witch, rocketing through the sky, but hasn’t been able to expose the Wizard as a fraud.
Glinda the Good is the beloved face of the regime, but her lack of magical mojo is a deeply held secret. The Wizard’s propaganda minister Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) contemptuously equips Glinda with a mechanical floating bubble.
Morrible also conjures up a cyclone that happens to drop a farm house in the middle of Munchkin Land.
Much of the plotting in Part 2 reveals how minor characters we met in “Wicked Part One” are transformed into the iconic figures of the original story — the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodsman. We see how the Flying Monkeys become Elphaba’s faithful minions, and why she has a good reason for wanting those ruby slippers.
A lot of this is handled superficially. And Dorothy, referred to as a
“mulish farm girl,” is a phantom, seen at a distance or skipping off-stage just out of camera range.
The storyline for Elphaba and Glinda isn’t as interesting as Part 1, but the two stars power through with passion and impressive musical chops.
As Prince Fiyero, Jonathan Bailey is stuck with a character who’s heroic, rebellious — but still bland.
Jeff Goldblum shows off a seedy charm as the Wonderful Wizard, almost seduces the heroines in one musical number, and raises the question — is he a Machiavellian autocrat, or just a carny barker making it up as he goes along?
“Wicked: For Good” can’t escape the shadow of its better half. But I’m tempted to consider both films and give them an overall four stars out of five.
