Wicked: For Good review: A powerful final chapter that shows the Wizard of Oz through Elphaba and Glinda’s eyes

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo make you sympathize with their characters but also leave you in awe of the sheer grandeur of the Wicked world!

Wicked: For Good review: After a successful part one and exactly a year’s gap to part two’s release, Jon M.Chu has lured us all into his Wicked world of magic. Elphaba and Glinda, two confident, young women figure out friendship, love and their outlook on life in this two part larger than life magnum opus. While part one starts off with the Wicked Witch of the West’s death and all the Ozians sing ‘No One Mourns the Wicked’, part two starts exactly where we were left a year ago. The Ozians are still singing about the Wicked Witch but instead of her death, this time they rewind a little bit to the time they find out how wicked she is or at least how she is portrayed to be one. 

Part two raises the bar for its special effects, there’s so much colour and aesthetically pleasing sets in every frame that you cannot help but feel the magic that Glinda constantly talks about. But Wicked: For Good is no one’s fairytale ending. It’s about loss, politics, the consequences of one’s choices and the complications of female friendships (Yes, even in Oz land!). Elphaba(Cynthia Erivo) is still on the run after going against the Wizard and standing up for all the animals and their right to speak. The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) is still fooling everyone about his non-existent magical skills and continues to grow a hate train against Elphaba in the heart of the Ozians. Glinda(Ariana Grande) steps into the role of becoming Glinda: The Good Witch to lift the spirits of the people, even if that requires her to speak ill of her best friend, she simply cannot resist the love and attention that comes from people. She also announces her engagement to Prince Fiyero(Jonathan Bailey), which he is definitely surprised and not stoked about. And lastly, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) is making sure Elphaba does not win in the battle against the Wizard whatsoever.

Also Read: Wicked Part 1 review: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo put their heart and soul into creating magic on-screen!

Wicked: For Good has three things at the center of its core. First - the very obvious love triangle between Glinda, Fiyero and Elphaba and where nobody is subtle about their feelings. Second is how the 1939 movie, the popular Wizard of Oz finally comes into the picture in the grander scheme of things here. How the Tin-Man, the Lion and the Scarecrow get their origin back stories and how Dorothy makes her way into Oz Land. If you’re someone who has watched Wizard of Oz as a kid, it is going to be a rather emotional yet an eye-opening experience to see that there was so much more to know about the famous story and this time we see it from Elphaba and Glinda’s lens instead of Dorothy’s. 

She was simply a pawn in the plethora of things happening behind the scenes. If the Wizard of Oz cleverly hid those things from us, Wicked: For Good lays open all those plotlines for the world to see. Lastly, it is Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship that keep you hooked to this spectacle. They are no ideal best friends and they know that. From making life choices that tore them apart to having feelings for the same guy, the two have had a fair share of their downs but their love and unconditional support for one another regardless of it all portrays how grey female friendships can be.

The conscious decision of not showing Dorothy’s face and keeping her at a passing glance was a rather wise thing to do on the maker’s part. Nobody would ever be able to fill Judy Garland’s shoes when it comes to the iconic role. Not only would the performance be dissected on social media, it would also heavily take away the focus from Elphaba and Glinda’s story. Having said that, the one reason Wicked still stands a notch above Wicked: For Good for me is the music! The Wicked sound track still stands tall with its bar set so high that even its own second installment could not break its record. The title track Wicked: For Good is a track worth listening to on loop but it simply isn’t Defying Gravity!

While Jonathan Bailey and Cynthia Erivo play their characters with conviction, it was Ariana Grande’s Glinda that will make you sympathize with her for more reasons than one. Grande does not perform Glinda, she completely becomes her and her vocals and sparkingly pink costumes, on top of that, become difficult to ignore in any frame that she is a part of! If part one was for Cynthia Erivo’s viral Defying Gravity note, part two is for Glinda’s character development. Wicked: For Good is inspired by the popular stage play and the Wizard of Oz that our entire generation grew up watching, now with Jon M.Chu’s two part musical chapter, a whole new generation gets to grow up with a story that has been passed down since the dawn of time!

Wicked: For Good is currently playing at a theatre near you!

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