Wicked: For Good Review — Strong Performances Keep A Wobbly Script Afloat

"Wicked: For Good" finally brings us to the downsides of Universal's experiment in splitting one stage musical into two full movies. Director Jon M. Chu had miraculously avoided such problems bringing down the first "Wicked" (called "Wicked: Part 1" in its opening titles, though curiously "For Good" is never titled "Part 2"). Simply letting each scene of the fast-paced stage show breathe a little more and adding additional visual action where appropriate was enough to expand 90 minutes of play into 160 minutes of movie without ever dragging or feeling excessive (here's Looper's recap video of "Wicked: Part 1" if you need a refresher).

The good news about "Wicked: For Good" is that since it was filmed at the same time as "Part 1," it's basically the same movie, so the performances, sets, costumes, makeup, and almost all other aspects of the film's craft are just as wonderful as its predecessor. The bad news is it's still the lesser part of said movie, which isn't a shocker considering Act 2 is the lesser part of the Broadway musical. 

Done right, "Wicked" as two movies offered an opportunity to improve the second half. Done wrong, it risked amplifying Act 2's flaws by dragging out thin material. The final result of "Wicked: For Good" falls between the best and worst case scenarios: some big worthwhile changes and additions show a smart adaptational instinct, but it's still less entertaining than "Part 1," marred by inconsistent plotting, lackluster humor, and fewer exceptional musical numbers. It's good enough, but I could be happier.

The best changes in "Wicked: For Good" put greater emphasis on how Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) fights for Animal rights. An exciting opening scene has her causing a commotion freeing the creatures forced to pave the Yellow Brick Road. Elphaba's new song written for the movie, "There's No Place Like Home," is a rallying cry for Animals considering fleeing Oz to stay and fight — I expect to hear it sung at every "Broadway Votes" event for at least the next three years. The scene where she discovers the fate of Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage in "Part 1," now without a voice) has been expanded into a wild crashing of Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Fiyero's (Jonathan Bailey) would-be wedding (one curious choice with disturbing implications: insects are included among Oz's intelligent Animals, meaning the butterflies at the Glinda-Fiyero wedding are likely slave labor). The ending has also been expanded to center Animal liberation, albeit perhaps with too easy a resolution.

The filmmakers deserve some credit for listening to the disabled community's criticism of how the play handled the story of Elphaba's wheelchair-using sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode); the character in the movie is no longer "cured" of her disability but instead given a different sort of enchantment. That representational improvement, however, doesn't change that Nessarose's big character turn is still one of the most rushed and underdeveloped parts of the story — even if it does lead to an awesomely creepy practical effects transformation.

Describing the pacing of "Wicked: For Good" makes me feel like the nurse in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," deciding Dewey needs more and less blankets at the same time. The first act feels particularly dragged out — it adds a medley of reprises before slowly getting to the stage show's Act 2 opening number "Thank Goodness/Couldn't Be Happier" — but then, like the show, big developments will pass by in the course of a single scene or in jumps between scenes. The latter is most readily apparent once the story starts directly overlapping with that of "The Wizard of Oz." Given the darker tone, it makes sense there'd be less humor than in "Part 1," but aside from some of Jeff Goldblum's schtick as The Wizard, the comic relief here also falls oddly flat (Grande, the comedic secret weapon of "Part 1," is on more serious business here).

"Wicked: For Good" is playing at a musical disadvantage compared to "Part 1." The first movie is a constant string of classic numbers (excepting "Something Bad," which is baaahd, and "A Sentimental Man," the song in every musical that no one likes), while the songs in the second film are fine but overall less memorable (with two HUGE exceptions). Most of the ones from the show are about mercenarily driving the plot forward. Stephen Schwartz's new additions for the movie — the aforementioned "No Place Like Home" and Glinda's privilege-reckoning "The Girl in the Bubble" — provide our leads with some nice character development, but won't stay stuck in your head and won't beat "KPop Demon Hunters" at the Oscars.

The two exceptional showstoppers here are "No Good Deed" and the title song, "For Good." Cynthia Erivo's performance of the former is the closest I came to feeling the unbeatable chills of "Defying Gravity," while the latter is an incredible tearjerker and the culmination of Erivo and Ariana Grande's hyper-intense chemistry. The Elphaba/Fiyero love song "As Long as You're Mine" is close to this upper echelon — Erivo and "Sexiest Man Alive" Jonathan Bailey would have had one hell of a convincing "lavender marriage" in the Golden Age of Hollywood — but might have needed a PG-13 to really get there.

If you saw and loved "Wicked: Part 1," of course you need to see "For Good," for those amazing performances, to appreciate all the love put into creating this stunning version of Oz, and to get the complete story. If you didn't love the first part, this won't change your mind. I'm curious how the two parts play back-to-back as one movie, a la the upcoming release of "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair." This is clearly the worse half of the bigger "Wicked" movie, but it's overall still pretty good, with just enough sparks of true magic.

"Wicked: For Good" opens in theaters on November 21.