By Keeley Reiford
Overall, the movie was fantastic! Before watching the film, I was only interested in hearing the songs “No Good Deed” and “As Long As You’re Mine”. But after watching the movie, those songs and the rest of the soundtrack take on new meaning, evoking a deeper emotional connection.
Wicked: For Good was truly a movie that not only incorporated new and old songs but also encouraged the acting skills of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, making their performances more relatable and heartfelt.
The character Glinda has fewer songs and less stage time in the musical. But in the movie, director Jon M. Chu allowed Ariana to explore Glinda’s inner turmoil, making her emotional journey more relatable. Glinda’s life is basically a lie after she decided to stay. Glinda has the expectations of being a role model for all of Oz, of being the good witch.
The movie goes further into the turmoil surrounding Glinda’s search for Elphaba, but she can’t find her. This longing to see her friend becomes so hard to manage that when she runs into Elphaba with the Wizard, she hugs Elphaba — showing her emotional side, which is not shown in the Musical. In addition, Ariana Grande adds a new song called “The Girl in the Bubble”. This song does not have the strongest lyrics, but it conveys a good message about Ariana’s character.
In the end, Glinda loses because she loses her betrothed and her best friend. This does not destroy Glinda, because she bounces back and tries to make up for her mistakes. At the end of the movie, she tries to be Glinda the good, truly inspiring viewers with her resilience and capacity for growth.
The Character Elphaba gains what Glinda loses in the first act. Elphaba, after leaving the Emerald City, is deemed the Wicked Witch. Living in hiding, Elphaba tries to fight back against the Wizard in any way she can. One method she tried was to recruit the Animals, who were retreating from Oz.
With the introduction of the new song called “There’s No Place Like Home”, Cynthia Erivo tries to convince the animals to fight back against the Wizard. After the song, she fails to persuade them, but it’s a significant moment for Elphaba because in the movie, she was raised by a Bear. That part is different from the musical, because the Mayor of Munchkinland is Elphaba’s Father. After this, Elphaba focuses her efforts on saving the Monkeys.
In the end, Elphaba “dies” and Glinda watches it happen. What actually happened is that Elphaba and Fiyero, the love interest, came up with a plan to make everyone believe that water can kill the Wicked Witch. This character is well-developed in the musical, but the movie made it so much better. Overall, Cynthia Erivo definitely gave Idina Menzel a run for her money.
The songs were also phenomenal. The iconic song “For Good” made me tear up. The added acting scenes with all the characters give them more meaning, emphasizing the film’s serious tone. Jon M. Chu provided more context and better alignment with The Wizard of Oz. This movie was not made for the lighthearted songs. Wicked For Good is a movie aimed more at Adults, which is why the kids did not like it.
Wicked: For Good is a very well-made movie, but it’s more focused on less-funny, more-serious themes, encouraging viewers to reflect on deeper issues.
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