Wicked for Good is the sequel to the original Wicked movie that came out lat year. Directed by Jon M. Chu is based on the second act of the Broadway musical. While the first movie was bright and colorful and more based on their school drama. This one is darker and moodier and has very high stakes.
I would argue the most important part of a musical is the music and Wicked for Good kills it. Cynthia Erivo has some of the hardest songs in musical theater but you wouldn’t know it. She manages to sing these horribly difficult songs with such ease and with so much emotion. Junior Red Smith agrees saying, “Oh my god it was so good oh my god.” Of course Arinana Grande is nothing to scoff at either singing operatic high not that sound ethereal. The only complaint I do have is with Michelle Yeoh, while she is an amazing actress her voice is just not up to par with the rest of the cast.
The acting in this movie is amazing. Erivo and Grande’s scenes together will leave you crying. Smith also agrees with this, “Bawling crying my eyes out most emotions I’ve ever felt omg.” Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum do such a good job being just horrible people. One of the best acting performances in the movie I think goes to Marissa Bode who plays NessRose. She takes this very morally grey character and allows you to see both sides of her. How you feel about her can change from literally sentence to sentence.
Another fantastic part of this movie is the costuming. Paul Tazewell was the costume designer and he did a wonderful job. He managed to make every costume look campy and magical but still fashionable. Smith has strong opinions about this too, “I want to wear everything oh my god, I want to steal all of the clothes.” The only real problem I have with the costumes is that Glinda wears the same dress for most of the movie, only changing out of it when she is getting married. Also during as long as your mine Elphaba is wearing this cardigan over a dress and it just doesn’t feel magical, it feels very human and doesn’t really fit in with the rest of Oz.
Movies can be a lot bigger than Broadway musicals, bigger ensembles, bigger sets, more costumes, and I think Wicked for Good is a great example of this. The movie manages to do a better job bringing you into the world of Oz, with big almost completely practical sets. Another change is there are two new songs in this movie, one for Elphaba and one for Glinda, both of which are beautiful. Elphaba’s news song called “No Place Like Home” is not only an amazing ballad but a great call back to the original Wizard of Oz.
Overall I think this is an amazing example of what a movie musical should be. A bigger version of the stage musical. I give Wicked for Good a 9.5 out of 10.
