Wicked: For Good Movie Review

Get ready for more of that beautiful pink and green combination… with a slice of yellow through the heart of things. Filmed back-to-back with the first ‘Wicked,” it’s similar in appearance, but overall, much darker emotionally. ​

It may be a little slow to get going, but once it does, it doesn’t stop. At over two hours, you won’t mind the time. You won’t mind it because you won’t feel it, you’re that locked in. The sets are gorgeous, the songs are tremendous, the cinematography is outstanding, and everything Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is off-the-charts marvelous. Her performance, acting, and singing, you can’t deny, is one of the best of the year.

Elphaba thinks back on her friendship with Galinda. She loves this lady donned in pink. Galinda is cute, wanting to trademark the word “good.” Elphaba misses her. She never sees her friend, who’s a star in the eyes of everyone in Emerald City. There, she’s practically on a throne. Getting bubble cars (a great scene) and praise while Elphaba sits alone in her treehouse, wishing things could be as they were… or better. She takes opportunities when she can to warn of the truth of things, to get people to open their eyes (this movie is more political than national news), writing a message in the sky, “The Wizard Lies.” When Madame Morrible (Oscar® winner Michelle Yeoh) sees it, she quickly changes Elphaba’s message to read “Oz Dies,” making her look bad and wicked. But who’s truly wicked in this film?? Madame Morrible! She’s horrible!!

The cinematography, by Alice Brooks, who worked with Jon M. Chu previously on “In the Heights” and with Lin-Manuel Miranda on “tick, tick… BOOM!”, knows how to capture what’s best about the story, enhancing Chu’s eye for giving his audience a pictorially vivid experience, no matter the screen you watch his movie on. You’ll love flying with monkeys and take to flight on the witch’s broom. Color is essential in this film; there are pops of it everywhere, and it’s sensational, so much so that I can’t wait to see it again to breathe it in.

Supporting characters are fantastic. The acting isn’t anything to shout from the rafters about, but they’re memorable enough to put you in the film. The storyline about Nessa (Marissa Bode) is what brings about the characters from “The Wizard of Oz.” I was loving everything Dorothy, who was getting on Galinda’s last nerve. I found it absolutely delightful. They didn’t make any of these characters that important, but what they do with them, how they merge them into this world, takes you back to a time when you were first introduced to the story, so it’s a little nostalgic moment for you. It’s special in so many ways.

See “Wicked: For Good.” These actors all deserve your attention, and you’re going to find it just as good as the first one, if not connect with it even more. Imaginative and perfect in so many ways. The music is terrific, and the story itself is a joy. Outside of some pacing issues at first, there won’t be a point when you’ll wish you hadn’t purchased your ticket. Yes. A ticket. You cannot miss this on the big screen. See it this weekend!!