The rise of resistance cinema in the era of Donald Trump

A year ago, a passionate woman of color found her voice and took on an older, white carnival barker who was stoking bigotries to seize unchecked power. I'm not talking about Kamala Harris, but Elphaba Thropp from the box-office smash "Wicked.

- Mark Leydorf, Tribune News Service

The Democratic nominee for president was unable to defy gravity in the end, but over in Oz, the battle is still raging. When we last saw Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) at the cliffhanger ending of “Wicked,” she was preparing for war. The not-so-Wicked Witch of the West is back in theaters this weekend, and she's ready to rumble.

When “Wicked: For Good” starts, though, she's pretty down and out. The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) remains as Trumpy as ever, waging a vicious campaign to demonize and deport Oz's animal citizens. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), his PR manager, has stirred up propaganda to discredit our heroine, branding her as, well, it’s in the title. Meanwhile, Elphaba’s boy toy, Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), and her bestie, Glinda (Ariana Grande), have accepted shiny new jobs in Oz: He’s now Captain of the Wizard's Guard, and she’s been promoted to Glinda the Good, which basically involves floating over to Munchkinland in a nifty bubble to give pep talks.