Wicked For Good is the highly anticipated sequel to Wicked which came out approximately a year ago. It is an American musical fantasy film which is adapted into a movie from the highly successful theatre show. This film explores interesting relationships between Glinda and Elphaba as they adopt their new identities as the ‘Glinda the Good’ and the ‘Wicked Witch of The West’. As a huge fan of the first movie (unashamedly I went to see it four times in the cinema), I had high expectations for this second instalment and it didn’t disappoint.
The special effects, costumes and talent of the actors are outstanding with no scenes and time ‘wasted’. The film picks up exactly from where the first one ends so the action immerses the audience immediately. I found the themes and bonds between the characters to be deeper than the first film which was entertaining to watch and having watched the first film a year ago didn’t disadvantage me since it is extremely memorable. I particularly found Cynthia Erivo to have a fantastic presence within the film despite this sequel mainly focusing on Glinda’s development into her role. Erivo’s voice and acting skills are remarkable with her stealing my attention in most scenes.
I enjoyed the storytelling aspect of how the beloved characters of the ‘Wizard of Oz’ came to be as I was unaware of the backstories. It was frustrating to watch Elphaba be blamed and punished for what was other people’s greed and lies but only made me like her more due to her playing the scapegoat and not being bothered by the glory.
Ariana Grande plays Glinda so amazingly and really captures her essence from her mannerisms to how she holds herself physically. I find her scenes uplifting and I feel her confusion as to who to trust due to her naive nature endearing. The songs she sings in this film are not on the same level as catchy or upbeat like the last film but the diversity shows her talents in lots of different areas.
This film has much darker tones but wraps up the franchise satisfactorily. The ending is clever and different to the novel which is surprising to witness. Despite the length of the film exceeding 2 hours, it genuinely whizzed by and I was left wanting more!
4/5
Image Credits – The Movie DB
