WICKED: FOR GOOD – Review by T.J. Callahan
Wicked For Good: “There’s no place like home.”
Jon M.Chu has spoiled us. He’s changed the way we watch movies…for good. The conclusion of the director’s record breaking adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, Wicked, is hoping to defy the current Box Office slump as Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s voices soar to new heights in Wicked For Good.
Part 2, as this film is also referred to, picks up where Wicked Part One ended. There’s no refresher. If you haven’t seen the first film or can’t remember what happened since it’s been a year, you’re out of luck. The movie opens with the Yellow Brick road under construction and the people of Oz on edge. Their once successor to the Wizard, Elphaba, has been demonized as the Wicked Witch of the West and she’s exiled herself to the forest. Meanwhile, Glinda lives in the castle, finally becoming famous and the symbol of all things good in the Emerald City. As the townspeople grow into an angry mob, wary of the Wicked Witch, Glinda must calm them and bring her and Elphaba together to make tough decisions that will alter their lives forever.
If you are familiar with the musical you know all the really show stopping numbers are in the first act, but Wicked For Good compensates for that by adding two new Stephen Schwartz songs, breathtaking sets, colorful costumes, flying brooms, soap opera-like fights and, most of all, heart wrenching emotion.
The casting of this movie is also utter perfection with Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh and Sexiest Man Alive, Jonathan Bailey reprising their roles. But it’s the sisterhood between Grande and Erivo, both on and off the screen, that makes Wicked For Good wicked good.
Touching on themes of identity, rejection, the corrupting influence of power, animal rights, sacrifice, and the capacity of friendship, the PG rated Wicked For Good sends ideal messages for all ages that reflect our current times. While I still wish this fantasy fairy tale would have been one film…maybe with an intermission…it’s still going to be popular. Wicked For Good warrants 2 hankies and rises to a 9 on the TeejFlixometer.
