"Your very own vehicular spherical globule!"
"So, like, a bubble?"
Picking up soon after the closing moments of the first film, the sequel kicks off with the construction of the yellow brick road, Elphaba out to expose The Wizard and Glinda and Fiyero newly-engaged, and the general opinion that the second half of the original stage show does not quite live up to the first half more-or-less applies to this filmic version as well. Many of the elements that made the first film work are still present, from its killer lead cast to the huge-scale world-building/staging and the powerhouse performances of Erivo, Grande, Yeoh and Bailey (the latter two perhaps rather underserved this time round). Elements of The Wizard Of Oz - partly blunted by copyright - are used sparingly and integrated smartly in order to service this story. The songs this time are rather non-descript with more big-Broadway yelling but they are generally pleasant enough and well-orchestrated. It treads a very fine line between expansion and padding out, the big set-piece musical numbers occasionally feeling stretched and attempts at more down-to-earth moments not quite hitting the mark. With some dark character arcs and grim reveals, Wicked For Good is a solid but hardly fun wrapping up of this remarkable project.
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