Warning: major spoilers for Wicked and Wicked: For Good
Disclaimer:
There are two things you should keep in mind before you read this: I hate musicals, and I knew nothing about the Wicked franchise before watching the first movie. I won’t be getting into as much as I’d like because both movies are so dense. There are many key plotlines I’ve chosen to leave out, such as Prince Fiyero’s arc or the Wizard of Oz’s scenes. However, I thought I’d share some of the highlights (and lowlights) of my experience watching Wicked: For Good.
A Brief Wicked Recap:
Wicked follows Elphaba, a green-skinned outcast who typically stays in the shadows, and Glinda, a conceited, superficial, popular girl who thrives under the attention of others. Glinda wants to possess magic but is unable to. Elphaba, on the other hand, possesses magic and doesn’t know what to do with it. Through many arguments, they discover a commonality: their mutual anger towards the mistreatment of the animals in Oz. They both get invited to Oz’s Emerald City. Elphaba sees through the Wizard of Oz’s lies once she discovers he’s not a wizard at all. Rather, he was only a mortal man who was working with Shiz University’s Headmistress, Madame Morrible, to use Elphaba’s powers to enslave more animals. The movie ends with Elphaba being chased by soldiers after she refuses to help, being labelled as a “traitor” and a “wicked witch.” Glinda stays, becoming Madame Morrible’s puppet.
When the Buildup is Not Worth the Payoff:
I think Wicked 2 is sadly one of those cases where the tedious worldbuilding, plot, and characters from the first movie don’t reward the viewer in the sequel. This is especially upsetting because we dedicated 3 hours of our time to these characters in Wicked. We’re all looking forward to the continuation of everyone’s journeys after closely following their ups and downs. I felt like multiple characters’ potential was wasted, like Bowen Yang’s character Pfannee, who makes brief appearances as Glinda’s personal assistant and nothing more.
One of my biggest disappointments was Madame Morrible’s character, played by Michelle Yeoh. Yeoh plays Glinda’s puppetmaster for the entirety of Wicked 2 after she unmasks her true intentions in Wicked. She did an excellent job at capturing Madame Morrible’s clever cunningness in the first movie, playing the caring and concerned Headmistress, which we now know was a farce. I’m not sure what happened between the two movies, but I didn’t see any of the controlled, manipulative, multi-faceted power that she carefully crafted in Wicked. I wish Yeoh’s character had maintained the false narrative of the first movie, because it felt like she gave up entirely on it. Any fear, threat, or intimidation I felt in the first movie has vanished, and in its place is just a mean, bitter sorceress who starts a tornado and rearranges cloud letters in the sky. It all just felt very lacklustre.
Another disappointment was that Nessarose’s descent into—for lack of a better word—wickedness was rather abrupt. Marissa Bode’s character was a hard pill to swallow in the first movie. However, there’s a sudden switch from Elaphaba’s bratty little sister to an outright cruel Governor, a title appointed after her father died of shame (which, by the way, is hilarious). I know where she’s coming from—her sister kind of disgraced the Thropp’s family name, and she’s grieving the unexpected death of her father while taking over his former job. But similar to Madame Morrible, Nessa also felt very one-note. The only glimpse of vitality I got was the iconic red slipper scene, when Nessa’s silver slippers temporarily turned red by Elphaba because they were “hot” (that was the only way the slippers could be red, as MGM has Dorothy’s ruby red slippers in an airtight trademark). Nessa dances in the air, the room filling with her laughter, and I’m taken back to a lovely scene of her dancing with Boq in the Ozdust Ballroom. Little did I know that short-lived scene was the last time I would see Nessa happy. I only felt apathy when she died, as I’m sure many others can relate to.
Speaking of Boq, played by Ethan Slater, his side-character villain arc also felt a bit rushed. On the contrary, it actually seemed well-paced when compared to Nessa or even Madame Morrible. I could follow the sequence of events more easily for why Boq turned evil, as the movie lays them out for the viewer pretty plainly: Boq breaks up with Nessa, Nessa abuses her power as Governor and doesn’t let him leave Munchkinland, Boq comes back, and Nessa almost kills him, then Elphaba saves him by turning him into the Tin Man. Okay…I’ll buy that. But only because we’re shown on-screen reasons why Bog would be bitter. Call me old-fashioned, but if you want to turn a character from good to wicked, I need to actually see it. Otherwise, it feels out of nowhere and inauthentic.
The Actual “Musical” Part of the Musical
Ahh…so what you’re really here for, yes? Don’t worry, I won’t be taking individual lines from each song to interpret them, because I don’t really care. However, I’m genuinely saddened to say that Wicked: For Good did not produce any memorable favourites. So unmemorable, in fact, that my friend and I couldn’t recall a single song that was sung as we left the theaters. Disappointment flooded me because Wicked had some great ones. Notably, “Popular”, “What Is This Feeling?”, and my favourite, “Dancing Through Life” (I adore you, Jonathan Bailey). Admittedly, all of these songs have a light, upbeat tone, which matches the content of Wicked. The sequel has a darker, more serious tone, and I think the songs mirrored that. However, I was searching for at least one song that would get stuck in my head after watching, but my brain came up empty.
Worth the Watch?
If it wasn’t clear by now, I’m not a diehard Wicked fan, and any passion I have for this movie exclusively comes from watching the first one. From others I’ve spoken to, it seems they’ve shared similar sentiments of the first surpassing the second. It was still great to see everyone’s endings through the cinematic experience of the movie theatres. Regardless of my feelings about the first one, I’m lucky I got to watch it in the theatre with my best friend by my side. Hopefully, you can say the same!