Wicked: For Good is the follow up and conclusion to last years Wicked. Picking up where the first film leaves off, we are thrown into an authoritarian hellscape that is not unlike our own at the moment.

The more I think about it, the more I stand by a thought I had last year: it’s a mistake to split the musical into two movies. That’s not to say that the second film is bad. It’s an enjoyable follow-up. But, splitting it into two parts, I feel, took the gusto out of it. The excitement that was there last year was replaced. With what, I’m not quite sure. But, I think if they can fit Les Miserables into one film, then they could have made all of Wicked into one film. One of the graces movie musicals have is that they can be longer than a usual movie. They’re almost expected to be. So, “the film would have been too long” is not valid, in my opinion. ANYWAY.

The cinematography in Wicked: For Good was not nearly as jarring as it was in the first film. There seemed to be less lens flares. Still, the film felt very washed out. Which, I guess is fine, because then it looks cohesive with the first film, at least.

Costumes and make-up I would rate a 100 out of 10. (Except for whoever made the decision to put gems in the hollows of Ariana Grande’s shoulders. Why are we reverting back to 2000s diet/ED culture?) The practical make-up used for the Tin Man and the Scarecrow were so refreshing to see, especially considering all of the CGI animals that permeate the film. The creation segments for each I was slightly disappointed by, however. Are you telling me that these segments couldn’t have been marginally scarier? We had that horrifying flying monkey creation scene in the first film. More could have been done here.

One of the largest positives in the film is the removal of the ableism that plagues Wicked on stage. This was the correct choice, without a doubt. For those unfamiliar, one of the largest changes that came to the Wicked screenplay was the altering of what the enchanted shoes would do for Nessarose. On stage, during the “Wicked Witch of the East” segment, Nessa sings of resentment: resentment for her inability to walk, resentment for having to rely on those around her. She sings of being miserable.

All of my life, I’ve depended on you
And this hideous chair with wheels
Scrounging for scraps of pity to pick up
And longing to kick up my heels

In the movie, this is altered. Nessa instead speaks of wanting to feel as happy as she did that night at the Ozdust. This then leads to Elphaba enchanting the shoes to make Nessa fly, instead of walk. The correct choice was made by the filmmakers. However, I do think they could have still found a way to keep the tone of the original scene. On stage, finding a “solution” for Nessa is something Elphaba does herself. Nessa conveys her resentment and sadness, and Elphaba has the idea to enchant the shoes.

Nessa, there isn’t a spell for everything. The…power is mysterious, it’s not like cobbling up a pair of….wait!

In the movie, Nessa is written as an unbearable person, very surface level. So, when this topic comes up, the words spoken and sung are:

I want to go back to the way we were at school
That night at the Ozdust
Boq danced with me there
And it felt like he loved me then
That night, when I felt I was floating on air
I want to feel that way again
Make me feel that way again

It’s this last line that completely changes Elphaba and Nessa’s final interaction. It is no longer a last ditch effort from Elphaba to show her sister that she does care about her, making Nessa’s turn against her sister that much more hurtful. Instead, it reads more as a demand from an entitled younger sister which then makes Nessa’s turn as The Wicked Witch of the East less impactful and more inevitable.

We all know how I feel about new songs being written specifically to be put into a movie version of a stage musical. If you don’t know: hello, you must be new here. I am almost always against it. You can tell nearly every single time that a song has been written for the movie, even if that music is written by the same people who wrote the stage musical. Wicked: For Good does the worst thing, in that regard: there are two new songs written for this film, one for Elphaba and one for Glinda (because you can’t give one a whole new song to sing without giving the other one). Both songs were completely unnecessary and didn’t contribute anything new to the conversation that wasn’t already being said in another song or within the dialogue. The song “No Place Like Home” is a cheap way to try and attach the film further to the 1939 Wizard of Oz (which Wicked is not canon to). This was surely one of the only ways they would be able to do this, as they would not have been allowed to use the “correct” green tone for the Wicked Witch, and they obviously weren’t allowed to use the ruby slippers, among other copyright protections. What frustrates me most about this, is that Wicked does not have to be canon to the 1939 Wizard of Oz to be considered good and be loved. It is a fantastical parallel story that can exist all on its own.

Sticking with music and vocal performances, the segments I was most excited for, “As Long As You’re Mine” and “No Good Deed” were well performed. Cynthia Erivo was absolutely astounding in her vocal and emotional performance. The decision to remove the Elphaba “Fiyero” yell from the “No Good Deed” transition but keep in Glinda’s, and not having that smooth music transition from “I’m Not That Girl (reprise)” into “As Long As You’re Mine” just so you could have a couple more moments of silence and Glinda crying was a choice, to say the least.

The greatest disappointments in the film were Michelle Yeoh, Marissa Bode, and Jeff Goldblum. I’ll give Goldblum benefit of the doubt in that certain choices, vocally, were character choices. The character of the Wizard is a grifter, him not being able to sing well, but still managing to pull you in makes sense. What does not make sense is the reworking of “Wonderful” in Act 2. Could Goldblum not carry an entire song by himself? I find that hard to believe. I find it easier to believe that production wanted to put Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in as many scenes together as possible, which is what I feel happened here. In the film, it seems Elphaba can’t do anything in Oz herself, without Glinda, which is not the case on stage. A weird choice was made here that is detrimental to the character of Elphaba.

I wanted to like Marissa Bode’s performance as Nessarose so much. I was enjoying it in part 1. But, whatever happened to Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox between Act 1 and Act 2 that made them decide to take away any ounce of depth Nessa had and instead make her a surface level, entitled brat is beyond me. Wicked being split into two films should have given them enough time to really convey the wickedness that Nessa inflicts and the hurt she feels. Instead, they seem to speed run it all. “Just get her to being the Wicked Witch of the East already” kind of thing. The film barely lets the audience take in what Nessa has done before she’s on to the next action and then BAM! Boq is turned to tin, she sings, and her entire motivation for becoming the Wicked Witch of the East becomes about the “betrayal” of a man. It’s hard to tell how much of this is the writing and how much is simply Bode’s acting. It’s possible that with another actress, the words spoken wouldn’t have come off as so, well, bitchy, but we will never know.

(I also wanted to mention that leaving in that “BOQ!” yell at the end of “Wicked Witch of the East” was an insane decision. I was cry laughing for no less than 45 seconds.)

Michelle Yeoh was the final disappointment, performance-wise, for me. Her performance in this film was jarring compared to her performance in the first film. It’s like she forgot to act while she was singing. In fact, that’s the note I’d give about Marissa Bode’s “Wicked Witch of the East”, as well, especially at the end of the song. It’s like both actresses forgot to act while they sing. Had Michelle Yeoh put any emotion behind the words that she sings, I wouldn’t even be mentioning her. From what I know, this is on director John M. Chu, who was adamant about casting Yeoh as Madame Morrible, even after she declined the role several times.

I would be remiss to not mention the performance of Ethan Slater as Boq/the Tin Man. This man had the right amount of emotion in every single scene he was in. His make-up being practical is a choice that I am so thankful for as it allowed the audience to see the emotion on his face through the “tin”.

Did I enjoy Wicked: For Good? Yes. Do I think the movie is the best it could be? No. Far from it. I think the movie would have benefited had it spent a bit more time on Nessa and the Wicked Witch of the East arc, flushing out her character, making her more than one or two dimensions and removing the two songs written exclusively for the film. I truly think those two songs were added in this second film because the decision to split the film into two parts was a financial one, not a filmmaking one. Once the studio execs took a look at the track list for Act 2, after already making said decision, they realized they didn’t have as many showstoppers as in Act 1. So, they tried to have them written. And they did not work. That’s what I’ll choose to believe, anyway.

This will be a film that I add to my ever growing physical media collection. But, will it be one that I reach for when I want to watch a movie musical? Or will I put on The Wizard of Oz for the 500th time? Only time will tell.