Wicked: For Good invites us to continue following the Yellow Brick Road that leads to Oz, picking up where the two witches, Glinda and Elphaba, left off. Publicly branded as “wicked”, Elphaba now lives in the forest, honing her magic and hiding her heart. Her sister Nessarose has been appointed Governor of Munchkinland, and the glittery Glinda is now engaged to Prince Fiyero, who just so happens to be the real love of Elphaba’s life.
The film is a musical extravaganza, packed wall-to-sonic-wall with dazzling song and dance. There are lovely vocal performances by Ariana Grande-Butera and Cynthia Erivo, and composers John Powell and Steven Schwartz keep the musical magic flowing the whole time. Wicked: For Good is full of all the outrageous colors and wonderful whimsey that we’ve come to expect in the land of Oz, but underscored with the stickiness of betrayed friendships and coming to grips with who you really are. The impressive visuals and stun-ifying costumes swirl around, dodging the malignant Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) and the real power behind that facade: Madame Morrible, played magnificently and maliciously by Michelle Yeoh.
How one gets from there to the more familiar story of a girl from Kansas, a scarecrow, a lion, and a man made of tin is where the storytelling comes in – between musical numbers, of course. Yes, we follow the Yellow Brick Road, but there’s more to it than that. The story is cleverly told, and leads me to believe that we haven’t seen the last of these witches yet. The film lacks the power of it’s predecessor, but it is nonetheless filled with magic of its own.