‘Wicked: For Good’ REVIEW: No Good Sequel
‘Wicked: For Good’ REVIEW: No Good Sequel
Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked: For Good
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ‘WICKED: FOR GOOD’
Wicked: For Good, the long-awaited conclusion to the tale of the ever-defiant Elphaba and of her best friend Glinda, has finally arrived. Director Jon M. Chu made a conscious decision to split the musical into two films and put much of his life and effort into the two, even abandoning the third installment of Now You See Me, just so he could focus on directing this beloved musical. The decision by him and Universal to release this sequel seems driven more by financial gain than artistic merit, as Wicked: For Good is an uninspired offering when compared to the already overlong and inflated first film.
Musicals always have this one glaring curse put upon them: their second acts are weak compared to their first act. Usually, the second act of a musical is where everything that was established during the first act is wrapped up. Some creators get nervous as to how they write their second act, so they inject too much filler just to a.) lengthen the musical runtime and b.) justify its existence. Wicked’s second act has always been considered weak, with a few exceptions of some songs, including “As Long As You’re Mine,” “No Good Deed,” and “For Good. “
The first film’s most distracting aspect is how it prolongs some scenes that ruin the momentum of some songs. It was a chore to watch “Defying Gravity,” and in the sequel, the very songs that saved the stage musical’s second act are butchered with this practice. This is the case with “As Long As You’re Mine.” Despite Cynthia Erivo’s and Jonathan Bailey’s marvelous and electrifying performance, the buildup before the song feels rushed, and when the song finally arrives, that’s where they prolong the scene to establish their love for one another, rather than the song being the moment where their emotions are at their peak.
On the other hand, “No Good Deed” has less noticeable prolonged moments; the whole sequence was ruined by its bad direction. It is almost laughable when Chu chose to end the song with flying monkeys around her: it never gave the right emotions one should feel after witnessing someone realize the whole world will always be against her and accepting her destiny with fury and rage.
Glinda and Elphaba in Wicked: For Good
Stephen Schwartz, the man behind the music and lyrics of the original musical, wrote two new songs for the film, “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble.” These songs were clearly written to give more depth on Elphaba’s and Glinda’s respective arcs, and also to nab an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
“No Place Like Home” has higher chances of winning the award lyrically, as it emphasizes Elphaba’s true desire to free all the animals in Oz really well. Ariana Grande’s rendition of “The Girl in the Bubble” is wonderful; however, the song itself felt like filler rather than a song that advances her character and the plot. It is typical for musicals to add at least one filler song. In the case of Wicked, it already has Wonderful, the one song that was executed wonderfully in the movie, for it showed how the Wizard uses his charm and wit to manipulate Ozians into thinking he is a powerful wizard.
The story of Wicked will always end up like this: Glinda’s redemption is backed by Elphaba's sacrifice. Elphaba knows that there is no use in claiming her redemption in the eyes of Ozians, so she does her best to help Glinda, for she knows she is more than capable of doing greater things for Oz. Chu’s direction of “For Good” is the best thing he has ever done in this movie. The build-up to the song, while abrupt in my opinion, is just right. As soon as the song plays, he thankfully knew that a simple, intimate direction would spur out the right emotions for the song. As the song reaches its end and we are shown Elphaba's ultimate sacrifice through Glinda’s eyes, I cannot help but sob and feel Glinda’s pain.
Glinda in Wicked: For Good
Glinda the Good will always be seen as the hero because that is how the Wizard set it all up in the beginning. She put it to good use by the end, by correcting what was wrong and putting an end to the Wizard’s reign in Oz. They all live happily ever after, there’s just an itch that it could’ve been better had it not taken unnecessary meandering in the middle.
The whole marketing behind the two-parter knew how to keep the hype alive in between the gap of the films’ respective releases. How can people be excited for the sequel after a year of anticipation? There’s this wish that the studio could’ve and should’ve spent more time making the adaptation better, rather than focusing much of their energy on its marketing and promotion. As a fan of the original musical, my expectations were high before the first movie, despite the experience of seeing film adaptations of stage musicals is always a disappointing one. Seeing the product of their decisions is painful, for the material itself is a thing of beauty.
If you come to this movie expecting to be filled with emotions, it is guaranteed to deliver. If you can look past its flaws, you will surely have a wicked time. The actors are marvelous as always, and while their performances are not award-worthy as some people are saying in exaggeration, they all gave their very best for their roles. However, the majority of the film’s runtime proves why the material should’ve been turned into a whole movie instead of being two parts, and we’re seeing yet again another example of corporate greed — turning a material into a cash cow until there’s nothing left.
‘Wicked: For Good’ is now showing in Philippine cinemas.
