Kind of like Ariana herself*
Okay, I’m going to admit right up front that whatever enthusiasm I had to see Wicked For Good had waned nearly to the point of evaporation. Insert your own ‘somebody get that girl a sandwich’ joke here*. Most of that is going to be due to an almost gut-wrenching distaste for some of the statements, opinions and career choices of Cynthia Erivo. Absolutely take note: this is NOT a race thing. Not. One. Bit.
Anyone who wants to throw shade at me for that take can just buzz off. I don’t hate anybody, no matter the identity politics. I do hate behaviors, though. And I do hate some choices. Those things have no gender, no political affiliation. No skin color.
Septum rings are really unattractive. I find super-long fake fingernails that look like talons and prevent the wearer from doing most simple tasks that hands were made for, unattractive. I find more piercings than I have shirts hanging in my closet unattractive.
For sure, I most DEFINITELY find acting in a stage play that mocks Jesus, unattractive. And pitiable. And dangerous. But that’s a different conversation.
Take a wild guess which
The point being, it’s hard for me (and for most people, I suspect) to completely separate the role from the public personality. It works both ways. I see Denzel’s off-screen behavior and it make me want to go see Equalizer 3. In the information age, you HAVE to be aware of these things. Ask Rachel Zegler. And Sydney Sweeney. One of them I’ll actively watch and the other…not so much.
Is there any more magical place in all of literature?
The Average Dude saw Wicked, the stage production, and enjoyed it. I knew little about Cynthia Erivo when the first installment of Wicked came out. The thought of seeing a return to the magical land of Oz on the big screen with modern CGI was exciting and I went to see it opening night with enthusiasm. You can check out my review of it at https://www.barredlands.com/admr-wicked/ I called it ‘turkey and stuffing for the eyeholes’. And that is definitely true. Wicked part one set the table for Wicked for Good. It 100% brought the enchantment of Oz to vibrant life. Everything we hoped for out of modern cinema delivered and even exceeded expectations.
Gone For Good, as it were
For anyone who did not see the stage production and did not know how the story ended, Wicked For Good might have been a satisfying ending. Having prior knowledge, all I could do is wait to see if the movie stayed true to the original and enjoy the CGI feast.
What I didn’t expect is this…the second installment focused on the political commentary side of the Wicked retelling. Gone were the fantasy and spectacle of Oz itself and we were doused in the cold water of reality. Wicked For Good became just another movie with a socio-political axe to grind (literally, oh Tin Man). The feeling of it being an event was missing. Elitism and animal rights and lies, oh my!
But is it worth seeing???
The answer to that is kind of weird. It was a two part movie. If you saw Wicked, you were always going to see Wicked For Good. But in truth, it lacked the majestification and jubulocity of the first. It felt simultaneously rushed and overlong (despite being about an hour shorter than the first). Was it a satisfying conclusion to the story of Glinda and Elphaba? Eh, mostly, I suppose. Though only in the way that NOT knowing how it ends would have been unforgivably disappointing. All the good songs were in Wicked. Very little in the way of choreography. It was just…less.
So…the Average Dude is giving Wicked For Good a middle of the yellow brick road 3.1 out of 5. Nobody in this movie was really someone to root for except maybe the lovelorn Boq, who was massively underused. Glinda was still shallow and vain but showed some character growth (eventually). Personalities and charcter motivations seemed to change constantly giving WFG a disjointed feel. In the end, it just felt like the deconstruction of a classic that didn’t improve anything. I know that is a downer, and I’m sorry for that. I am just guh-lad that I didn’t go see it on Christmas weekend. That’s no way to end the holidays.
Check out all the Average Dude Movie Reviews and our super cool merch at www.barredlands.com
Follow us on X
Follow and Like us on Facebook
#barredlandsdotcom #AverageDudeMovieReviews #PCLoadletter64 #wickedforgood #ArianaGrande #CynthiaErivo