Wicked: For Good Review: An Epic Ending to a Unique Story

Wicked: For Good is directed by Jon Chu and stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda.

Wicked: Fort Good begins several years after the events of the previous installment. This passage of time allows certain characters to be more consolidated in their new role, which pushes the narrative towards the future. This is a significant change, since in Wicked a more leisurely pace was adopted so that the events had more space, while this time there is an obvious need for each event to have a noticeable impact on what will follow. It is evident that the reasons of the characters will not have the depth required for their actions to generate a more significant effect in the dramatic sense.

The intimate connection both conceptually and formally that is observed in Wicked: For Good does not prevent Jon M. Chu from showing himself here as a stylized and creative director. In the impressive musical number where Glinda passionately and loudly reflects on kindness and punishment, Chu films it in a single continuous shot that includes camera movements between different mirrors. This process goes unnoticed since it is not designed to highlight the director, but to help understand the moral and personal labyrinth in which the character finds himself.

What the story means

In the sequel, Chu sticks to what really stands out: the intimacy between Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Everything else is left in the background when both are contemplated. Wicked: For Good tells a broken friendship relationship that seeks to recover while society demands that they hate each other. The sadness that Erivo reflects in his performance makes every insecurity of Elphaba feel like an open wound; Grande's measured style makes Glinda become the most tragic character in the plot.

The most striking aspect of Wicked: For Good is not the fantasy, nor the political elements, nor the expected adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, but the emotional fracture that Chu decides to show without qualms. Erivo transforms every moment into a prayer: when she sings, the film comes to life; when she is silent, the film shudders. Grande presents a different approach: her Glinda is no longer just a bright figure, but a young woman who begins to realize that her smile acts as a defense, that her bubble is a prison and that kindness sometimes requires refusing.

Elphaba embarks on a rescue mission, confronting a Wizard who rules through fear and headlines; Glinda finds herself trapped in the rules she helped establish; Fiyero struggles to escape the role the court decided for him before he could express himself; the classic characters of the story emerge as shadows, elements of a mythology that Wicked: For Good must accept despite it causing him discomfort. Dorothy appears and disappears. The Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow reveal their origin, being contractual shadows.

The way Wicked: For Good approaches friendship as a separating force is what holds the plot together. That kind of friendship that strengthens and weakens you, that makes you decide between what you want and what you should do, that drives you to face your greatest fears. Chu portrays that separation with a fierce tenacity: neither of them feels comfortable in the place society has given them. Elphaba takes on the role of villain and Glinda the role of Santa because they are not allowed to be different. Two destinations they didn't choose, two mistakes the world needs to keep moving forward.

Wicked: For Good is preferable when it is allowed to be damaged. When it is revealed that Glinda, the good one, and Elphaba, the bad one, are two parts of the same wound: that of existing in a world that determines who you are before you can choose it. When the film stops at this point, when it allows the plot to move forward, something arises that was not there before: an unexpected maturity.