“Wicked: For Good” is nearly 25 minutes shorter than its two-hour-and-40-minute predecessor. But it somehow feels substantially longer.
The first part of the film adaptation — released last November — sucked up the majority of the “Wizard of Oz” spinoff’s material, leaving a mostly-dry supply for director Jon M. Chu to work with. Audiences will likely walk away feeling thirsty — and simultaneously gorged on green and pink.
Chu fills empty space in the “Wicked” adaptation’s second act with an expanded look at Oz’s political landscape, a closer look at Glinda’s transition to “Glinda the Good,” and the introduction of two original songs, “The Girl in the Bubble” and “No Place Like Home.”
But much of Chu’s filler feels like fluff. The dark, metaphor-heavy political themes of the musical’s second half are compelling, but the film takes too long to make its mark. Chu never convinces the audience that two movies were necessary — a single “Wicked” would have sufficed.
Still, the movie delights in many ways. Every musical number is performed masterfully, even if none are quite as catchy as the first film’s hits like “Popular” or “Defying Gravity.”
“For Good” is just as visually delicious as the first. In moments where the plot drags, the impressive costumes and sets almost make up for it, capturing the whimsy and grandeur of the land of Oz that charmed moviegoers in the first act.
The messy friendship between Cynthia Erivo’s brooding, outcast, emerald-green Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s naive-but-maturing Glinda is the film’s most compelling dynamic. Together, the two female leads carry the story on their shoulders — while the head villains, Jeff Goldblum’s Wizard and Michelle Yeoh’s Madame Morrible, never quite leave the impression they’re supposed to.
The second half of “Wicked” picks up seamlessly where the first left off. Elphaba, now vilified as the Wicked Witch of the West, has been exiled to a secretive, shabby-chic treehouse, where she runs a one-woman rebellion against the Wizard.
Glinda has been exalted to “Glinda the Good” and stays loyal to her banished green friend, while quietly suffering from an identity crisis over her flimsy magic and lack of courage. Grande delivers a convincing performance as the good witch — proving once again that she’s as much a movie star as a pop star —but her storyline takes too long to heat up.
Following the film’s memorable opening scene, which shows the construction of the yellow brick road, the rest of the first two-thirds of the movie drag, building up to the much more impactful final third at a sluggish pace. By the time the film gets interesting, it’s almost too late.
Darker themes, many aiming for political relevance, give the second half more bite than the first. References to the Technicolor 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz,” which appear in the final third, generate some additional interest, particularly for viewers who are unfamiliar with the “Wicked” Broadway play.
For those who left the first “Wicked” installment craving more time in the Land of Oz, “For Good” might feel like a long-awaited bonus serving.
But for viewers who left the first movie feeling overstuffed on Oz, “For Good” might be best enjoyed at home, once it comes to streaming.
When does ‘Wicked: For Good’ come out?
“Wicked: For Good” releases in theaters on Friday, Nov. 21. It is rated PG for “action/violence, some suggestive material and thematic material.”