Wicked: For Good - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

As I said during my review for Wicked, I’m not a huge musical fan. I enjoy stage shows immensely, but some luster is lost when I see the same material projected on the big screen. I never got to see Wicked on the stage, I was too poor when I lived in Chicago, and then never caught it when it traveled to any of the other places I called home when I was more gainfully employed. All I could do was hear from the musical theater fans I knew who fawned over it endlessly and listen to the admittedly infectious soundtrack. And when the film adaptation was announced (ages ago, it feels), I figured I’d wait for the film. But we got two films when one probably would have sufficed. 

While I enjoyed and was entertained by Wicked, I wasn’t over the moon for it due to excessive story bloat compounded by new songs that added even less to the story. But bloat aside, I thought it was a magical, entertaining piece of spectacle. But as I buckled in for the concluding half, Wicked for Good, I felt something was off. I wasn’t catapulted into the magical majesty as I hoped. After about twenty minutes or so, it dawned on me that I hadn’t watched the first film since I reviewed it a year ago, so I stopped what I was doing and went all the way back and started at the first yellow brick. And I have to admit, watching the films relatively back-to-back (even as a four-hour chore) works much better. This second half picks up virtually immediately after the events of the first; some time has passed in the story, but that energy inertia from the conclusion of the first part carries you right back into the action without feeling like you tripped into the middle of a story a year later. And by watching both together, it made enduring the first film worth the journey.

Elphaba (the still amazing Cynthia Erivo) continues onward with her campaign to expose the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) as a fraud and save the speaking animals of Oz. Glinda (the still hilariously ditzy Ariana Grande) has accepted her role as the “Good Witch,” while the horrible Madame Morrible (Michele Yeoh) continues to pull the political strings of all Oz from behind the scenes. Conflict ensues, friendships will bend, a mysterious little girl with a pair of Ruby slippers will appear, and some familiar characters will go on a grand journey along the yellow brick road. I don’t mean to “yada-yada” that last part, but given the number of plot twists and story changes and accents of the nearly 90-year-old film we all know and love, I don’t want to spoil anything for the unfamiliar out there.

But, I have to say, as a back-to-back experience, I found I had more appreciation for Wicked and quite enjoyed Wicked: For Good as a result. They are a true hard-wired back-to-back experience. Unlike something akin to what Peter Jackson accomplished with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, these two films can’t exist in a vacuum apart from one another. Where it’s certainly best to watch the trilogy in quick succession, you can watch Fellowship, The Two Towers, and Return of the King as stand-alone experiences because each is a complete chapter within a larger story. I don’t feel you can really do that with Wicked and Wicked for Good. Like, in the future, as my opinion of the films has turned, I can't see myself watching the second film on its own without having recently watched the first. I, however, can watch The Two Towers without recently seeing Fellowship or feel the need to immediately watch Return of the King - I hope that distinction makes some sense. 

And that lingering problem leads to my lone real issue with this undertaking: it’s just too long. You really can have too much of a good thing. My previous criticisms of just too much saying, singing, and showing to repeat plot beats and character traits we already know and understand lead to more flabby bloat in this second round. Not quite as much flab this round, but it's still a few pounds over prime. Really, the new scenes and new songs seemingly serve no other purpose than to sell more soundtrack CDs, double the box office take (since the films were shot back-to-back), and hopefully score more Oscar nominations (this sequel was surprisingly snubbed of any nominations this year). I don’t necessarily think director Jon M. Chu and the rest of the filmmaking team were that cynically motivated, but at the same time, I still question the necessity of splitting this into two films for a total runtime of nearly four hours. 

I have no problem with long movies - if that length is justified. Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair was an exhausting, ass-breaking, single-sitting experience in the theater, but it was worth it because the seamless editing made the character arc feel more complete and meaningful. And speaking of long song-and-dance features, The Sound of Music is among those musicals that I feel is an absolute delight, but it also never feels bloated or excessive. Lord knows they could have added more; I would have loved it if Christopher Plummer kicked that Nazi shithead Rolfe in the nuts, but as exciting as that moment would have been, they smartly didn’t do that. That film doesn’t feel padded to justify its existence. And at nearly three hours, The Sound of Music is long, but it's exhilarating. All parts combined, Wicked could easily shave thirty to forty minutes and be a better, even more exciting and evenly paced single-film experience.

At the end of the day, I’m left saying Wicked and Wicked for Good are big, lively, lavish productions. The cast is excellent. The songs are infectious (most of them). The production design is incredible. On its own, I still stand by my 3/5 rating for Wicked. If I had to rate Wicked for Good strictly on its own, it’d also be closer to a 3/5, but now having watched both films back-to-back, I’m tempted to notch my final verdict to a more favorable 4/5 for the entire experience. That’s because they really do work better together. I found I was having much more fun and enjoying the spectacle and the story more because of the narrative flow between films, letting the action and character arcs feel more complete without the protracted 365-day intermission. That said, I’d probably be even more generous with that rating if the entire experience were shorter and only one film. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Wicked for Good follows its predecessor along the Yellow Brick Road to 2160p physical media with a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital set. The 4K is pressed on a BD100 disc with a Region Free BD50 serving up the 1080p. Extras are found on both discs. The discs are housed in a standard two-disc black case with an identical slipcover. The discs load to standard main menus with basic navigation options, with the bonus features panel along the right side of the screen.

Following the first film to 2160p Dolby Vision Glory, Wicked for Good wins the day on 4K. My lingering little niggle about being able to spot when the real practical sets end and the flat CGI green screens begin remains, but that’s such a small issue it’s barely worth mentioning when there is so much other grand visual splendor in play that looks gobsmackingly beautiful. As an example of a scene that uses a lot of CGI but mixes it up with real actors, costumes, and makeup, that reveal of the Tin Man was a genuine “wow” moment for how well this production handled the mix of visual elements. And they stand up beautifully in 4K. I think that the extra finishing time was good for this sequel, because even the CGI creatures looked a little more weighty and natural. Colors are bright, bold, and exciting. Black levels are deep and inky with excellent shadows and image depth. Bottom line, I can’t really knock this one for anything too serious. I'm still curious to one day see what this film and its predecessor looked like in 3D, it does feel designed for that medium, but as is, this is an impressive transfer. 

Standing alongside the impressive video transfer is an excellent Dolby Atmos mix. Between the vocals, music swells, howling monkeys, and popping bubbles, this track finds some fun ways to give that channel spread purpose. One of my favorite gags was when Glinda gets her bubble cruiser and can’t stop herself from making and popping bubbles. How the sound mix shifts when Grande is inside the bubble and when it pops is a really fun example of auditory detail. That follows with LFE. Right from the jump, as the Yellow Brick Road is being laid out, there’s a terrific rumble in the subs. And when Elphaba frees the beasts and zips around the screen on her broom, that imagery moves throughout the channels with ease and up into the heights. Obviously, the busier the sequence, the better, but even in quieter moments, the sound design team found unique ways to let those channels have purpose for a fully immersive experience.

Completing this little package, we have another great selection of extra features. We don’t get quite as many extras as the first film, sadly we miss out on another Grande/Erivo commentary, but Jon M. Chu returns, and we get an excellent making-of documentary. A couple more minutes of deleted scenes and some focused featurettes roundout the package. So not quite as much material as the previous entry, but a good amount for fans to dig into. For those vocally able, the Sing-Along version returns as well.

• Sing-Along Version
• Audio Commentary featuring Jon M. Chu
• Deleted Scenes: (HD 5:51 Total)
• Brick Making
• Glinda Train Tour
• Friendship Montage
• The Wizard is Sentimental 
• Making Wicked: For Good (HD 51:28)
• The True Wizard (HD 5:56)
• More than Just a Place (HD 6:26)
• The Girl in the Bubble (HD 6:06)
• Kiamo Ko (HD 6:08)

I’ve gone through a little bit of an evolution of sorts with my feelings about Wicked. On its own, that first film was entertaining, but it also felt excessive, at least it felt that way to me as someone new to the material who wasn’t invested in the stage production. And, truthfully, I wasn’t that into Wicked: For Good when I first started watching it. But switching gears to watch them back-to-back, as something resembling a single-feature experience, was the right move. I still have qualms, quibbles, and questions about the necessity of two films and the bloat that extended the experience to nearly four hours, but I can’t deny that I was entertained. A little tired by the end of it all, but I think I did it right by watching this second half right after rewatching the first. So, I’m going to be a bit more generous with my film ranking and recommendation this time around because I genuinely enjoyed it more. On 4K UHD, the film comes home with a terrific 4K Dolby Vision / Dolby Atmos A/V experience, complete with another dedicated selection of extensive and informative extra features. If you’re a fan of the films, owning this disc is a no-brainer. Between SteelBooks, gift sets, and two-film sets, all you have to do is choose which wicked witch is right for your shelf. Highly Recommended