Wicked: For Good | Film Review

 

As Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) fights for the people and animals of Oz after being branded the Wicked Witch of the West, she realises that she needs to reconnect with her best friend Glinda (Ariana Grande) to truly change Oz for good.

This was one of my most highly anticipated films of the year. I absolutely loved the first movie, and being familiar with the theatre show, I really wanted to see how they’d translate the second part of the story to film.

I loved this film. I went in with low expectations due to some negative reviews, but it was exactly what I wanted – the conclusion to this story with some songs that I’ve been waiting to hear!

There has been a lot said about the casting choices, and I have to agree in some respects. There were a few people that were miscast, and a few instances where the singing could have been stronger, but for me this didn’t matter too much because when the casting works, it’s amazing.

There is great chemistry in every corner of the film – particularly between Erivo, Grande and Jonathan Bailey. While Erivo and Grande developed this chemistry in the first film and made it just as good in the second, Erivo and Bailey really got the chance to develop this in the second movie, and it’s so worth it because those two characters are amazing together.

I didn’t love all the songs, particularly the two new ones, but the ones I was anticipating were great, and so worth waiting a year for!

I was surprised to find that the second half actually works better in the film than it does on stage. Yes this is probably because the film had room to breathe and elongate certain moments, but I didn’t realise how rushed the stage show was until I saw the movie.

As with the show it did a good job of incorporating the original story, particularly Dorothy. I loved the decision not to show her face, it definitely would have distracted from the main story.

Grande and Erivo clearly put everything they had into this film and it completely paid off.

This is a great one to watch with other people, it was so much fun seeing this in a packed cinema!

So overall, I had a great time with this movie. Is it a masterpiece, no. But will fans of the theatre show love it? Absolutely!

8.5/10