If you remember last year’s adaptation of “Wicked” for its spectacle and charm, the opening sequence of its sequel, “Wicked: For Good”—where Elphaba (now known as the Wicked Witch of the West) flies in to liberate forced animal laborers being abused as they construct the yellow brick road—might leave you confusazzled and distressulated.
Where the dissolution of animal rights and the creeping fascism of the Wizard’s regime was a subplot of the first “Wicked,” it is firmly the focus here. Gone are the hair flips and tap dancing—if Part I was about building the Wonderful World of Oz, Part II is designed to tear it all down.
Set a year after the end of the first movie, “For Good” thrusts the students of Shizz University out into new roles: Glinda (Ariana Grande) is now the face of the Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) propaganda campaign, Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) a captain in the Wizard’s Guard, and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) branded an enemy of the state. We get quick flashbacks to remind us of the love between these characters—and how far their public personas have pulled them apart.
There are moments when you might miss the gleeful charm of the first “Wicked,” especially with Grande’s Glinda, whose deft comedic ability only occasionally peeks through the turmoil here. But it is a credit to director Jon M. Chu that the heavier subject matter never feels like a slog. Largely mapped over the events of “The Wizard of Oz,” Chu delivers a steady string of emotional payoffs that keep the story moving.
It all builds an emotional complexity that is hard for blockbusters of this size to pull off—if they attempt it at all. No one is inherently good or bad in “Wicked: For Good.” It is only when its characters stop doing the work, stop trying to make the world a better place, that they truly become wicked.
Now Playing
“Nuremberg”
As the Nuremberg trials are set to begin, a U.S. Army psychiatrist (Rami Malek) gets locked in a dramatic psychological showdown with accused Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring (Russel Crowe). Driven by commanding performances from Malek and Crowe, “Nuremberg” explores a crucial moment in history as the world began to fathom how something as unspeakable as the Holocaust could come to be—and how crucial it was to hold its perpetrators accountable for their actions.
Ends Tuesday.
“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t”
The Four Horsemen reunite to recruit three skilled illusionists for a high-stakes heist of the world’s largest queen diamond from a powerful family crime syndicate in “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.” Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco return for a new mission full of mind-melding twists, turns, surprises, and magic unlike anything ever captured on film.
Ends Tuesday.
Triplex Movie Trivia!
Movie trivia returns to The Triplex just in time for Thanksgiving! Join us in the lobby on Tuesday, November 25, at 8:30 p.m., for some wicked good multimedia movie trivia where you can win free tickets to The Triplex! Limit six members per team, seating is limited so come early and grab a drink!
November 25, at 8:30 p.m.
Coming Soon
“Sentimental Value”
Writer-director Joachim Trier reunites with his “The Worst Person in the World” star Renate Reinsive in “Sentimental Value,” coming to The Triplex on November 26. After sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic director Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), he offers Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star (Elle Fanning), who suddenly finds herself in the middle of their complex family dynamics.
Starts Wednesday.
“Zootopia 2”
Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) are back on the case in “Zootopia 2,” Disney Animation’s follow-up to 2016’s smash hit family film! Following the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile who arrives in Zootopia and turns the mammal metropolis upside down, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.
Starts Wednesday.
