By Angelique Jurd.

Let me start with what I adored about this film.

The Cast: The main cast I found, on the whole, to be extraordinary. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana
Grande stole the show, just as they did in the first film. Erivo, in my opinion, steals the show simply by showing up but Grande comes in a very close second and Bailey takes third place. To be perfectly honest, Erivo and Grande could have been the only people on the screen and the film would still have delivered – in fact it may have delivered more…just sayin’.

Over my lifetime I have seen if not every film Goldblum has made, damned near every film. I was aware of him even before The Fly – and I’ve always loved him. Of course, like most people, I especially love his rock star nerd performance in the original Jurassic Park but to be fair have found little to complain about. Having said that, I honestly feel Wicked: For Good was one of his weakest performances. The man is an old-fashioned Star – capital letter is entirely intentional here – and he should have outshone everyone. Rather, he sort of just…showed up. I’m not sure if I
can say he was disappointing, but this was far from his best – and not even close to the promise of the first film.

I’m equally as ambivalent about Michelle Yeoh – again another actor I admire. Anybody else turning in that performance I would have thought they were trying to pay the rent – with Yeoh I’ll lean toward fulfilling a contractual obligation. She was either bored or seriously underutilised.

Bailey, recently named Sexiest Man Alive by PEOPLE, stepped up as the hero who unexpectedly (or not depending on how cynical you are) chooses Elpheba over Glinda. He brought to it the right mix of charm and dependability and somewhat ironically provided the obligatory male love interest that was really only required by a mainstream (American) audience.

Ethan Slater, also underutilised, was of course the sweet nerd… I mean…Munchkin…who has heart broken and turns into cynical and bitter … villain is a harsh if somewhat appropriate word. I think the movie would have had a little more backbone had he won the fair Glinda’s hand but that’s probably just me.

The Music:
Nothing really to say here. As with the first movie, the music is extraordinary and the
stand outs are No Good Deed by Cynthia Erivo and For Good by Erivo and Ariana Grande.

So, to the film itself. There were some lovely head nods to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland. It was particularly touching that we never saw Dorothy’s face while still capturing Garland’s signature look. The cgi Cowardly Lion while cute didn’t have anywhere near the charm of Bert Lahr’s 1939 version, but this was more than made up for with some of the other ‘original’ characters, not the least being of course Elpheba herself.
Ultimately though I found Wicked: For Good to be nothing more than… fine, while it should have been fabulous. As the movie advanced it felt more and more as if the first instalment, Wicked, had done all the heavy lifting and this one was simply there
to tie up loose ends. Which it did….for over two hours. Some of this of course is due
to the inherent challenges of translating a Broadway show to film but a lot of those challenges could have been mitigated by spreading the action across the two films in a more balanced manner. I don’t doubt we will see some award nominations and even wins for the music and musical performances – and rightly so – and while I won’t go so far as to call the movie bad or even disappointing, it wasn’t brilliant. If ever a film deserved to be brilliant, it was Wicked: For Good.

Story: 3/5 Plot: 3/5 Acting: 2/5 Effects: 3/5 Music: 5/5 Overall: 3.2/5
Thanks to Sans Pareil Online, Universal Pictures, and Event Cinemas for the
opportunity to view and review Wicked: For Good