Wicked has ended for good

If you haven’t seen the first Wicked film, understanding the second one might be quite difficult. The story immediately picks up from its prequel, as if the intermission has just ended, and the director Jon M. Chu rushes to introduce the audience to a whole new world – a world where Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) and the Wicked Witch (Cynthia Erivo) collide. 

This film has a more sombre ambiance, with the consequences of Oz’s political unravelling hanging heavily in the background. Everything feels slightly manufactured, and the Ozians are clueless about the true nature of their beloved Wizard. The pacing, however, becomes one of the main issues of the film, with a rushed storyline and minor events that seem to serve no purpose. 

The long-awaited farewell duet, “For Good”, is perhaps also not good enough. Their vocals seem better fitted to a studio recording than a heartfelt goodbye, unable to match the gravity of the situation. While the film’s version is beautifully sung and visually enchanting, it falls short of the emotional depth that the moment deserves. It turns out, though, that there is not much gravity in the plot either. The lack of key emotional anchors, such as flashes of memories or meaningful moments of friendship, make the film quite shallow overall. 

Surprisingly or not, the viral moments that came out of this film were not necessarily scenes from the movie itself – they were from the press tour instead. Often, you would see Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sobbing while discussing the movie. For example, when they were asked about their friendship in real life during an interview with the influencer Sally on YouTube, Erivo told Grande: “I hope you will be there for the rest of my life.” Grande replied, crying, “I will be, and I hope you will be, too.” During the tour, Erivo’s gestures in general went viral on all social media platforms – one of them being how she leapt back in shock when one of her fans told her that she had her missing hat from the London premiere last year. 

The viral moments were not necessarily from the film itself but from the press tour instead. 

Nevertheless, not all fan interactions were wholesome. During the premiere for Wicked: For Good in Singapore, an Australian influencer, Johnson Wen, charged onto the red carpet and put his arms around Grande. Even faster than the security team, Erivo swiftly came to Grande’s rescue and Wen was sentenced to jail for nine days. 

Besides the glamour of the costumes and buzz around the press tours, this musical adaptation did not have much to offer.