Wicked: For Good Dir: Jon M. Chu (13th Floor Film Review)
Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, Wicked: For Good covers the second act of the 2003 stage musical — which itself was loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, which was loosely based on L Frank Baum’s book… which is based on, well, Oz.
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, with Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum
The cast returns in full force — Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey (a man hot enough to give you sunstroke in a snowstorm), Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and more. The talent isn’t the issue. The issue is that this story simply didn’t need to be… this long.
Let’s talk maths for a second.
The stage show, in its entirety, runs 2 hours and 45 minutes — including a 15-minute interval.
Wicked the Movie — Part 1 was 2 hours 40 minutes.
Part 2 clocks in at 2 hours 17 minutes.
Which means the film adaptation has taken a tight, beloved stage musical and stretched it into nearly double its original runtime. Why? Who asked? Was there a Buy-One-Act-Get-One-Free deal at the “Epic Runtime Emporium”? Your guess is as good as mine.
And here’s the thing: Wicked has always suffered from a touch of Second Act Syndrome. Act Two simply does not have the pep of Dancing Through Life or the big diva wallop of Defying Gravity. For Good is an undeniable tearjerker, but it’s the only true showstopper — and it arrives very late in the game.
So, when the film adds two new and entirely forgettable numbers, plus an extended parade of extremely cute CGI animals… it feels exactly like what it is: padding. Charming padding, perhaps, but padding all the same.
If it feels like it’s dragging a bit, that’s because it is.
Where Part One sent audiences out humming and possibly attempting the Defying Gravity hero note in the nearest public bathroom, Part Two just doesn’t have the same banger energy. For Good is still gorgeous, Wonderful is still perfectly pleasant, but the rest? Instantly evaporated from memory.
Even the advantage cinema theoretically has over stage — the ability to expand the world and the book — gets lost here. The movie has more padding than Paddington, and most of it adds little to the story or emotional arc.
It’s not bad. It’s just… not quite good. And I desperately wanted it to be good.
The unavoidable CGI elephant in the room is that Wicked has been turned into two films that could have — and arguably should have — been one. This feels less like artistic vision and more like a box-office-maximisation spell cast by someone in sparkly shoes. If it ain’t broke — especially something as beloved as Wicked — maybe don’t stretch it like an overworked piece of elastic. Because as we all know, once you overstretch something, it loses its bounce. And this second act has lost a lot of its bounce.
There are things to love. Grande and Erivo sound phenomenal. Their performance of For Good, that ode to the messy miracle of friendship, is genuinely lovely. The costumes are stunning. Those CGI animals? Utterly adorable. But somewhere along the way, the film loses the heart and soul of its origins. Much like the Wizard himself, there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors, a lot of style over substance — and the emotional centre ends up feeling hollow.
Note to parents: Yes, it’s sparkly and sequinned and colourful, but this story deals heavily with adult themes — death being the big one. Maybe avoid taking your four-year-old unless you want to have some very big conversations on the ride home. I’m still traumatised from Bambi and Dumbo, and I stand by it.
Look, some musical adaptations get it absolutely, gloriously right — Chicago, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods. Mess with Fosse or Sondheim at your peril. So why the producers felt compelled to streeeeetch Act Two of Wicked to the breaking point is beyond my ken.
In the end, Wicked: For Good is beautiful to look at and beautifully sung, but ultimately more for bad than for good.
I wish I could say otherwise. The stage show will forever have my heart. The first film was genuinely great. But this one left me feeling a little more hollow than the Tin Man.
Jo Barry
Wicked: For Good is in cinemas today.
