TL;DR – While Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande still shine, the choice to split the film into two parts has had a detrimental effect on the pacing, narrative, and structure of the film.
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.
Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.
Wicked: For Good Review Introduction –
If I look back on the last twelve months, there may have been one film, outside of Chicken Jocky, that captured the imagination of people in the cinemas. It felt like everyone was holding space for Wicked, as it dominated the box office and broader pop culture. Thanks mainly to it being anchored by two of the best lead actors in the business for a musical film like this: Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande. But here’s the thing, and it’s a big one. The choice to end the first film at the traditional intermission moment meant that everything that the general public understood of Wicked was all in that first film, and thus, I was worried about how Part Two would go. I think I was right to be concerned.
So, to set the scene, at the end of Wicked, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) discovered that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) is nothing but a fraud. Oz and his accomplice Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) needed Elphaba’s natural magical abilities, but not if she was a threat. So Elphaba escaped their clutches, but has now been branded the “Wicked Witch of the East” in a propaganda campaign that stretches across the lands. Everyone now has to live with the consequences of their actions. Glinda (Ariana Grande) always wanted to be in the spotlight, but is she willing to do what it takes to stay there when it means betraying her friends? And will Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) discover his strength before it is too late?
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 