“Whoever’s in control gets to say what the quote-unquote truth is, what’s real.”
What is the truth? It may not be based on facts or reason; it’s what people agree on. This is the main theme that “Wicked for Good” continues to explore. Another theme is that you can’t force or trap someone to stay with you, let alone love you. People have free will, and all you do is postponing the inevitable. Although the heart of the movie is the complex, unlikely friendship between polar opposites, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda (Arianna Grande).
The story picks up where the “Wicked” left off. Elphaba has been branded as the “Wicked Witch of the West,” exiled and feared, whereas Galinda is paraded as “Glinda the Good,” the good witch and paragon of virtue.
Glinda is now an integral part of the propaganda machine of grand manipulator Wizard (Jeff Goldblum, “Jurassic World Dominion”) and corrupt magic teacher Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh, “A Haunting in Venice”). Living in a luxurious pink penthouse and perpetually wearing gorgeous gowns, Glinda is gifted with a pink bubble device that let her float inside, where she can greet the fawning flock and raise their spirit. The crown tiara and crystal wand Glinda wears sell the good witch look, even as a human with no special powers.
Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey, “Jurassic World Rebirth") is promoted to captain with a major task to capture or defeat Elphaba. Fiyero is caught off guard that he and Glinda become engaged in a very public announcement during a meet-and-greet event. It’s all about image; Glinda and Fiyero look good together and people expect them to marry.
While Glinda and Elphaba secretly remain friends, their relationship is complicated. It seems that Glinda can’t resist the trappings of the good life and popularity as a public figure. Glinda tries to broker peace between Elphaba and the Wizard, pleading with Elphaba to join those in power, it would be unlimited what they could do together.
Elphaba almost believes that the Wizard is following through with his word that he’d release the animals. Well, he does, only for show, and only the winged monkeys. There’s a far sinister prison where all the other animals, who have been losing their voice to speak, remain cruelly trapped in cages in a hidden basement.
The dual scenes between this dark discovery and Glinda’s lavish wedding, filled with cascading flowers and paved with golden butterflies, are brilliantly juxtaposed. Chaos crashes the wedding, and Fiyero makes his feelings known that he’s with Elphaba, to the shock and tears of Glinda. With a crushed heart, Glinda’s choices lead to some life-altering fates. At the same time, outcast Elphaba gets to experience the newly safe feeling while being truly vulnerable, as she's with the right person who truly sees her as who she is.
In Munchkinland, Elphaba’s wheelchaired younger sister, Nessarose Thropp (Marissa Bode), has been elevated to governor, following Elphaba’s and her father’s death. Nessarose continues to pine for Bog (Ethan Slater), a Munchkin who made her heart sing in “Wicked.” Rejected by Bog, who’s going to travel to Emerald City to follow his heart and express his feelings for Glinda, Nessarose’s broken heart leads her to doing the unthinkable, which causes irreparable damages.
Animals and the Munchkins are losing their rights and banned from traveling. Some are leaving Oz through an underground tunnel below the yellow brick road as they are being treated as second-class citizens, despite of Elpabha’s pleas for them to fight.
The scenes with Dorothy (Bethany Weaver) and her companions felt rushed and are not fully fleshed. While the Wizard’s true colors don’t get exposed and that the people of Oz don’t know the real truth, Elpabha, Glinda and Fiyero concoct a tricky plan that will at least leave the Wizard and Madame Morrible out of power. The tender scene where Elphaba asks Glinda to see her not from her eyes as her best friend, but from how other people see her speaks volume. No good deed goes unpunished here; it’s not exactly a happily ever. Lives are changed for good.
“Wicked for Good” is not just pure fantasy. While the vibrant colors, sparkling production designs and extravagant costumes are a feast for the eyes, and the powerful voices and musical numbers are music to the ears, the layers shown in the deep and ever-evolving friendship and poignant acting covering the depth of emotions among the leads are especially moving.
And it’s not a coincidence if the film reminds you of the current political climate. Even when Elphaba’s pushes the Wizard to admit the lies that he's no sorcerer, he insists that people will believe what they want to believe and that they will continue to believe the continual lies even further. Political powers control the narrative; what kind of information to disseminate and what they want people to know and believe.
Power can and should be used for good. “Wicked for Good” may not be defying gravity, but it’s an earnest conclusion to the epic musical saga.
