A One Mann’s Movies review of “Wicked For Good” (2025, 3*, PG).
Given my 4 week jaunt in New Zealand and my general antipathy for this franchise, I’m very late to the game with this one. But I did finally see it this week. And, I thought it was… fine. But nothing that will remotely trouble my Top 20 for 2025.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is firmly established as the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ in the minds of the populace of Oz, thanks to some strong PR from the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). Glinda (Ariana Grande) is installed as the Good Witch but – with army captain Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) – are still secretly Elphaba’s allies. Events mount to a dramatic confrontation as Dorothy arrives and fulfils her mission.
Certification:
UK: PG; US: PG. (From the BBFC web site: “Mild threat, violence, innuendo, language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Colman Domingo, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James.
Directed by: Jon M. Chu.
Written by: Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox. (Based on the stage show created by Winnie Holzman
& Dana Fox; on the novel by Gregory Maguire and on the characters created by L. Frank Baum.)
Running Time: 2h 17m.
Summary:
Positives:
- Erivo and Grande both impress.
- Once again, the set designs, costumes and hair/makeup are all superb,
- The whole Dorothy story is neatly woven in.
Negatives:
- The film suffers from Part-2-itis in terms of the song content.
- A “twist” involving one of Dorothy’s companions is utterly obvious.
Full Review of “Wicked For Good”:
Full of colour and life.
The best thing about the film for me was the same as the best thing about “Wicked” – the film is a spectacle of colourful costumes, sets and great production design. (One exception: the back of the wheelchair of Nessarose (Marissa Bode) which – given it is seen in such extreme close-up – looked incredibly cheap and tacky). I dare say that this film will again feature strongly in the Oscar technical nominations.
Part 2-itis.
As is often the case in Stage Show Musicals like this, all of the best songs have been trotted out in the first half, with a belter – in this case “Defying Gravity” – to send the punters off to buy their overpriced wine and/or ice creams in the interval. And such is the case I found here with this film. Despite injecting two new songs into the film – “No Place Like Home” for Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and “The Girl in the Bubble” for Glinda (Ariana Grande) – the songs come across as a bit ho-hum to me. It actually surprised me that there was no attempt, other than some brief orchestral suggestions, to reprise any of these part 1 bangers.
A decent story.
The story is slight but moderately engaging (I should confess here that I have never seen the stage musical so the story was new to me) and I liked the way that the whole Dorothy sequence from the original film/story was woven in. (I was half expecting there to be some Uncanny Valley CGI of Judy Garland sneaked in at one point, but thankfully not.) I was not expecting the origin of the Tin Man; I thought that the reasons for the cowardly lion (voiced by Colman Domingo… a good “Pointless” answer) hating Elphaba struck me as spiteful and ridiculous; but a final reveal (which seemed to be positioned in the film as a “shock twist”) seemed to be utterly obvious to me!
Strong performances from the two leads.
Once again, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande both impress in the lead roles, but it feels to me like their shot at Oscar fame was probably last year (both were nominated but didn’t win). Both display phenomenal singing talent, although personally I prefer Erivo’s vocal range.
Once again, Jeff Goldblum basically plays himself as the wizard.
But appearing even more uncomfortable in her role than the first film is Michelle Yeoh as the scheming university head Madame Morrible. It’s really not a convincing performance from Yeoh who feels, to me, horribly mis-cast.
Summary Thoughts:
As a closure to the story, it’s fine. I know my granddaughter Eva absolutely loved both films, so that’s the important thing. But while I found it an enjoyable enough way to spend a couple of hours in the cinema, I’m afraid I really couldn’t get excited or emotionally moved by it.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt98AlBDI9Y.
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