2 Wicked 2 Furious

It's apparently been a year since I wrote my review of Wicked, which I guess makes since, given that the movie and its sequel came out a year apart. Still, though.

I've never been a fan of Wicked as an entire musical, beyond Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth's performances in the original Broadway cast. Even fans of the play, however, have long noted the imbalance between the fun first act and the dour second act, which crams a Solo: A Star Wars Story-level amount of "I know what that's from!" stupid Wizard of Oz prequel explanations into a frustratingly short amount of time. I'm tempted to use the phrase "speedrunning the Tin Man," so I guess I just did.

I truly loved 2024's Wicked, which has all of the best songs from the musical in it and is directed with both glee and aplomb by Jon M. Chu. That first movie was further elevated by Ariana Grande, who rightfully earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination with her sublime performance of G(a)linda, which was replete with inspired physical comedy. I'm pleased to report that Grande is in as fine a form in Wicked For Good, in which her still-inspired performance is solely needed.

When Universal announced that they were (fairly inexplicably) splitting Wicked into two films, they explained that they would include new songs in the second half, and that the extra time in that second movie would be spent fleshing out the characters and their motivations more thoroughly than in the play. I was doubtful they'd be able to pull it off in any way, but they definitely pulled it off in some ways.

Wicked For Good is a significant step down from Wicked, but there's no way it couldn't be. Wicked is essentially about joy and friendship and learning to love and accept yourself, and Wicked For Good is about how society and the world and those in power will hurt and destroy anything and lie to anyone as long as it means they can remain in power. That they will create villains to deflect the blame from themselves. Kind of a drag!

The big headline of Wicked For Good (at least for me) is that it's pretty good, or at least better than I expected, and occasionally great. Grande is still fantastic, and Cynthia Erivo's voice is nearly peerless. I adored the direction of one of the new songs, "The Girl in the Bubble," where Glinda laments her position inside her gilded tower while Chu's camera moves in and out of mirrors and around her palatial apartments, to the point where I couldn't even track what I was looking at. (Complimentary.) The other high point for me was "Wonderful," where Jeff Goldblum is used to the height of his abilities at injecting his own neurotic joy into his huckster sales pitch. The costuming, production design and practical effects (as in certain cases with the Tin Man and the Scarecrow) are tremendous. If you find the story or the songs lacking, there is never any shortage of incredible things to look at.

The filmmakers and the studio were doomed to lofty expectations the instant they split the movie, and further doomed when the first movie became a worldwide cultural phenomenon (of sorts). Leading up to the release of Wicked For Good, there were multiple television specials and tie-ins from NBC and Peacock, talking up how passionately adored the first movie is, and rightfully so. But as I watched cell phone testimonials of how much Wicked changed the lives of children and adults alike, I couldn't help feeling sorry for anyone who wasn't aware the second shoe was about to drop.

So I'm a bit relieved that Wicked For Good is "pretty good," because by all rights, it very much could (maybe "should") have been a complete disaster. I enjoyed it, and I'll watch it again. And kudos to all involved for finding a way to elevate the second act of the Wicked musical all the way up to "basically worthwhile."