As a Wicked superfan, there really was no other way of watching Wicked: For Good than in IMAX. When I say I was waiting for the film adaptation of Wicked for over a decade, I’m not kidding. I first saw the stage show of Wicked when I was eighteen as a birthday present from my best friend. We saw it at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London and I fell head over heels in love with it.
This was around the same time as the Les Misérables (2012) film came out and I quickly discovered, off the back of its success, Universal was pushing ahead with adapting Stephen Schwarz’s musical for the silver screen.
Of course, there were a lot of shifts and changes since those early plans began to be developed in 2011, but now it feels like that chapter has well and truly closed with the release of Wicked: For Good, and I went, armed with my Cineworld Wicked: For Good merchandise, to watch Wicked: For Good in IMAX and Cineworld Cheltenham.
Wicked and Wicked: For Good have really changed me for good, and these are all the incredible moments that really stood out to me in IMAX.
**Beware, spoilers for Wicked: For Good to follow**
The building of the yellow brick road
It’s the first shot you see, and boy, does it make an impression! IMAX’s whole thing is it makes a movie absolutely shine in all its glory. Colours are rich and brilliant, details are sharp and crisp. And it showcases that off the bat as we watch the construction of the Yellow Brick Road.
The vibrant yellow bricks stand out against the otherwise dark, dusty surroundings before it is lined with tulips of pinks and reds, an impeccable way to represent time passing as we pick-up the story a year after Elphaba first takes flight and is used as a scapegoat for The Wizard.
Hearing Elphaba’s new original song “No Place Like Home”
Before Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were even cast – heck, before Jon M. Chu signed on as director – Schwarz had said there would be two new songs in the film adaptation, and – after much teasing – I finally got to hear them. They’re both beautiful and add further depth to our two witches, but I can’t lie that I’m absolutely obsessulated with “No Place Like Home”, Elphaba’s new original song.
More stunning vocals from Cynthia? Yes, please! But it also gives us further insight into the main conflict between Elphaba and The Wizard, and that is the latter’s oppression of the animals to speak and live alongside the rest of Oz as equals. In “No Place Like Home”, Elphaba witnesses as the animals are fleeing into a tunnel that takes them away from Oz, where they might be free to speak and live as they wish. The song’s title perfectly harps back to the story’s origins of The Wizard of Oz, too, which is super whimsical and nostalgic.
Colman Domingo’s lion
While both Wicked movies remain faithful to the original stage show for the most part, there were some key differences and additions to add even more colour to the big screen. And hearing from the Cowardly Lion is just one of them.
From his role in The Running Man to Wicked: For Good, Colman Domingo is booked and busy. He voices the Cowardly Lion, who speaks out against Elphaba as she tries to stop the animals from leaving Oz. This is the same lion that Elphaba and Fiyero rescued from its cage at Shiz. Now all grown up, the Cowardly Lion cites this as the reason he didn’t learn how to protect himself, siding with The Wizard’s smear campaign of Elphaba that she is truly wicked.
Dulcibear and Elphaba reunite with notes of “For Good”
Not all Elphaba’s reunions are quite so bitter, though. On the Yellow Brick Road, Elphaba also runs into Dulcibear (voiced by Sharon Delores Clarke), the brown bear nanny that helped to raise Elphaba and her sister, Nessa. Throughout their interaction, Dulcibear’s dialogue references lyrics from “For Good”, and the foreshadowing had my heart simultaneously soaring and melting…
When the shoes finally become ruby slippers
Plenty of people had a lot to say about the iconic ruby slippers not being quite so, well, red… We first see them when Governor Thropp, Elphaba and Nessa’s father, gifts the silver slippers to Nessa on her first day at Shiz, sharing that they once belonged to her mother.
Of course, The Wizard of Oz purists were outraged. However, in the original The Wizard of Oz book by Frank Baum, the slippers are described as silver. It was only in the 1939 film, wanting to showcase technicolour in all its glory, that they changed into ruby.
In Wicked: For Good something magical happens, though. Jon M. Chu made the choice to honour both the original text and the 1939 movie. Nessa wears the shoes, and in “The Wicked Witch of the East”, when Elphaba attempts to give Nessa the power of walking again, the Grimmerie turns the slippers ruby. And in IMAX, you bet those ruby slippers really go off!
Everything about “Wonderful” including Glinda’s surprise appearance
Want to see a spectacle in IMAX? The performance of “Wonderful” in Wicked: For Good is, well, wonderful. And, unlike the stage show, Glinda features in the song – and it actually just makes sense and always should’ve been this way.
The Wizard once again appeals to Elphaba to join his side so they might work together and create something– No, I won’t use the same gag again. She is almost wooed into joining his side, believing The Wizard only wants to use her power For Good (sorry, not sorry). But, really, it doesn’t make sense for this negotiation to happen without Glinda. She is the one able to influence both sides and pull them together, and of course Ariana Grande’s vocals on “Wonderful” are a match made in Ozian heaven.
That, matched with the staging of “Wonderful” make for a truly glorious scene in which the three dance in The Wizard’s quarters, a rainbow of colour surrounding them, and a shot in which the witches sit on a swing made from broomsticks, surrounded by thousands of pink lights. It’s beautiful, it’s…wonderful!
The stunning contrast between Glinda walking down the aisle and Elphaba discovering more caged animals
Elphaba has been brought back on side under the condition The Wizard frees all the animals and gives them back their rights. But then, that quickly changes when Elphaba realises The Wizard has once again lied.
The contrast in these two scenes are breathtaking. As Glinda proceeds to walk down the aisle to a less than eager looking Fiyero – golden butterflies fluttering at her feet, an ethereal aura about Glinda – head of the flying monkeys, Chistery, reveals to Elphaba a hidden room filled with caged animals, including Doctor Dillamond.
The camera follows as both women walk down the aisle, one light and airy, the other dark and dingy, and in IMAX it really is so distinct and powerful in its execution.
“As Long As You’re Mine” – need we say more
Look, I’ll admit this was the song and scene I was most excited for. I’ve always loved this song. It’s so emotionally charged and intense. The fact Jonathan Bailey was cast as Fiyero (People’s World’s Sexist Man, FYI) just made this better. We’ve all seen season 2 of Bridgerton. The man could charm a brick wall (or a Yellow Brick Road, for that matter).
Witnessing that tension finally boil over between Elphaba and Fiyero was incredible, and the vocals on these two. Hot, melted honey, baby! As soon as Fiyero removed his jacket, I was squealing, and the cardigan. The cardigan, people!!
Madame Morrible slays with a tornado
I won’t lie to you, Madame Morrible isn’t a character that stood out to me particularly when I watched the stage show, but Michelle Yeoh really took on this baddie and made her her own. And she’s never quite as iconic as when she’s manipulating the weather.
Everyone said Wicked: For Good would take on a much more sinister, darker tone than the first movie, and they weren’t lying. Simple yet pure, pure evil, Madame Morrible wields a deadly tornado with her bewitching, curled fingers. It’s simple but so effective.
It’s a total knockout when the two witches fist fight
Who needs car chases and gun-wielding baddies? Just watch the two witches of Wicked having a fist fight in the heart of Munchkinland and you’re good to go.
Glinda pays her respects after Dorothy’s house lands on and kills Nessa, the Wicked Witch of the East. It is there that Glinda and Elphaba come face to face again after Fiyero left Glinda jilted at the altar and his feelings for Elphaba became apparent.
The rivalry between the pair is realised and animosity between the two reaches its fever pitch as they come to blows – quite literally. At first, it’s wand meets broomstick, but soon Glinda is ready for a good old fashioned tussle – with hilariously comedic effect.
There’s a reason “No Good Deed” is one of Cynthia Erivo’s favourite to perform
Holy moly! I wasn’t sure anything could top Cynthia’s performance of “Defying Gravity”, but it turns out she’s got more impeccable vocals to give. Anger is rife in “No Good Deed” along with anguish and heartbreak at the thought that Fiyero, taken away by The Wizard’s guards, may be no more.
During “No Good Deed”, Elphaba attempts to save Fiyero in whatever way she can, stalking the castle, Kiamo Ko, one of Fiyero’s family’s many homes. It is atmospheric, leading perfectly into the finale of Wicked: For Good.
I have been changed for good watching Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande sing “For Good”
I can’t talk about Wicked: For Good and not talk about the titular song, in which Glinda finally sees her public image for what it is: built upon lies upon lies at the detriment of who she truly is and the friendships she has made along the way. Glinda and Elphaba come back together to apologise and fix their friendship, aware now that Elphaba must sacrifice herself in order for real good to be enacted by Glinda, the Good Witch.
It’s tearful and we once again get a split screen as Glinda hides away in the closet while Elphaba must meet her end at the hands of Dorothy and a bucket full of water. There are so many tears from the two women, and it is in this moment it really solidifies, above all, this is a story of female friendship. I’m not crying, you are.
Fiyero and Elphaba are reunited
Unbeknownst to anyone else, Fiyero has in fact survived thanks to Elphaba’s magic, though he is now a scarecrow – the very Scarecrow that joins Dorothy’s ragtag group of individuals missing parts of themselves. Always deemed a little bit… brainless, we know that not to be true where Fiyero is concerned, over the course of his knowing Elphaba growing a conscience and joining her in her plight against The Wizard.
A loping scarecrow walks into the castle and opens up a trap door to reveal Elphaba is in fact alive, revealing Fiyero's new appearance. Gone are Jonathan Bailey’s dashingly good looks, though in IMAX, cheesy as it is, you realise all his heart, his earnestness, his charm, is in his eyes. Swoon.
The final shot of Wicked: For Good had me ascending
A dreamlike scene that could’ve taken place during their years at Shiz, or could be entirely of another world, sees the group of friends frolicking in a field of poppies during golden hour. Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, Boq, and Nessa are all there, happy and together, unlike the present where Elphaba and Fiyero must leave Oz in order to live a blissful, happy life.
The final shot sees Elphaba and Glinda sat together, Glinda shrouded in a white shawl. She turns to Elphaba, leans in and whispers in her ear. It’s everything the last shot should be, and yet I didn’t know I needed it until I saw it. A perfect recreation of the original Broadway poster for Wicked.
I really was swept up in the story of Wicked all over again, and managed to fall in love with it in an all new way. Jon M. Chu, all the flowers, all the awards! If you haven't seen Wicked: For Good yet, ensure you see it on the biggest screen possible – in IMAX!
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