When Jon M. Chu first announced that his big screen Wicked The adaptation would be divided into two parts, with concerns over whether the second half of the original musical could be adapted into a fully fledged film. Compared to the stage show’s lengthy first act, where all of the musical’s most recognizable songs are front loaded, the second act is shorter and moves at a much faster pace while picking up after a large time jump. it was easy to imagine Wicked: Part Two (original title) is too disorienting and frenetic to work as a standalone feature. But Wicked: for good It proves that Universal made the right decision by giving this epic fantasy more room to breathe and digging into what actually makes its characters tick.
Although it would make sense if Wicked: for good It immediately tries to introduce you to the events of the previous film, but the new film takes you into the story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) five years after the former roommates last met. Thanks to Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), the Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) newly appointed press secretary, almost everyone in Oz is convinced that Elphaba harbors a deadly evil that makes her a unique threat to the entire nation.
Aside from Glinda and her now-fiancé Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), it’s easy for people to believe the hype of the Wicked Witch of the West™ because they’ve all seen her flying through the sky on a broomstick and terrorizing the gun-wielding soldiers of Oz. But what most human Ozians fail to realize is that Elphaba Is She’s been busy wreaking havoc and lurking in the woods like an evil boar, all part of her one-woman crusade to free the country’s sensitive animal population.
Although Wicked: for good Building on the fantastic fairy-tale format of its predecessor, it tells a much darker, politically charged story about revolution and the power of perception. Elphaba sees herself in the animals who have been enslaved and forced to live a life of servitude for being too smart for their own good. It hurts her to see them building the yellow brick road she helped conceptualize, but what’s even sadder is how many of the animals, like a certain Cowardly Lion (Colman Domingo), see her as just another two-legged Ozian who will only bring them more pain and suffering.
Although many Wicked: for goodThe beats are lifted from the stage show, often feeling as if screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox are channeling the prickly energy of Gregory Maguire. Wicked The novel purports to paint a picture of Oz as America would look like in 2025. Some of the film’s most powerful moments center on the idea that petty tyrants rely on inciting fear and hatred of those marked as others. Scenes of humane soldiers driving animals from their homes under the guise of keeping Oz safe immediately evoke images of ICE agents attacking immigrant communities. The Wizard and Morrible’s fanaticism focuses on the animals for some time, but it’s not long before their abuse begins to have a negative impact on Munchkinlanders like Bok (Ethan Slater) and Elphaba’s sister Nessarose (Marisa Bode).
Wicked: for good Balances the heaviness of its political commentary with a healthy dose of clever humor that comes through in its nods to the original Wizard of OzStory of. A Magical Whirlwind introduces a new version of Dorothy Gale (Bethany Weaver), but her appearance in Oz is often played for laughs as characters comment on how the alien girl always seems to be poking her nose into other people’s business. The way Dorothy, her little dog, and their new group of friends are almost always shot from behind or left as the scene opens are some of the best movements of the film. How do they work as signals the Wizard of OzThe story ends, but also to remind you that Wicked It’s not really about them.
Once again, Erivo is a dramatic and musical force as she inhabits Elphaba with the more dynamic energy of embracing her Wicked Witch identity. But compared to the first film, Wicked: for good Grande spends more time with the growing Glinda, who struggles with the knowledge of how cursed her newfound fame as the Wizard’s favorite “witch” is.
Even when Glinda and Elphaba are locked in a ridiculous slap fight, Grande and Erivo are electrifying together in a way that absolutely sells. Wicked: for good As a subtle love story about two women who have changed each other. The film concludes their stories with a pitch-perfect poetic stage musical about living and dying – and despite spanning two films, that story never overstays its welcome.
Wicked: for good It also stars Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Sharon D. Clark, Dee Bradley Baker and Scarlett Spears. The film will be released in theaters on November 21.