Why Wiked: For Good is Undeservingly the ‘worse movie’

So… off the bat, we’re about to delve into something ridiculous.

Just so we’re clear on that, ok?

The first thing anyone that knows a thing about these dual movies… knows… is the original movie and sequel were shot together.

Wicked is a musical based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, where he imagines the story of Oz from the “wiked” witch’s perspective. So, among other things, she has a name: Elphaba.

So, in this story, she went to university with Glinda, the “good” witch. They were even roommates and reluctantly become friends.

Elphaba was born green because of a rare condition, and she only has the “witch’s” hat because Glinda gave it to her. So that’s how her delicate reputation starts falling downhill.

Then she has to break with the beloved Wizard when she realizes he’s systematically targeting animals — which normally are intelligent and can talk — with loss of powers and enslavement. So she flies away and starts using her magic in secret to stop this operation.

So, back to the movies. They were shot together, you would have to think edited together, produced together… everything together. But released a year apart.

Most people would never assume this, but why would’t you think that the two are actually the same movie?

So obviously that raises sooo many more questions. Maybe not at first, but soon enough. At least if you’re willing to think ridiculously….

If Wicked and Wiked: For Good are the same movie… how can any of us say that one is better than the other?

Well, with a different point of view. It’s inescapable (under the logic of the two movies being one) that you can’t compare them against each other.

But… what if they are, for a fact, two separate movies? That’s a shift in perspective that actually changes your circumstances.

Then… whether or not we should… we definitely can compare the two.

And while I believe my partner and I did jump to conclusions on the first viewing… we did have reason to believe that the 2nd movie wasn’t living up to the “original.”

People who have seen both probably can’t put their finger on it, but have a sense of the 2nd one being sub-par.

But why? There’s similarly impressive musical sequences and dazzling cinematography. There’s the same performances from the main starlets and supporting actors. Sometimes reprises of the same songs.

Well, for a lot of viewers, I think there was a sense of “giving up.” Like not trying to make it work as good as before. But again, just because we waited a year for the second movie doesn’t mean the producers and directors did.

Even above-average seems like a let down when you started with spectacular.

Not to mention that, without a drop in quality, it’s still hard to fight the phenomenon of novelty. The first movie of any franchise will have the thrill of seeing it come to life with the magic of the big screen.

It’s an incredible feeling, especially the first time seeing it. So we usually expect something even better to follow it.

Is it just a matter of perspective, then? Maybe, but there is data to back up the contrary. By Amazon FireTV ratings, Wiked is a 7.2 out of 10, whereas Wiked: For Good is a 6.4. The difference between thos is the difference between one level and another.

I think there’s something definitive left out of the equation so far. That’s the source material. I’ve experienced all three modes of this story: the novel, the play, and the movies.

I remembered in college talking with my friends about how much we loved the book, but hated the ending. The whole story was so clever and interesting, but it was almost like Maguire then rushed the ending.

Not only that, but the conclusion practically negated the premise of the rest. How can you not feel let down by that?

I didn’t notice the same dynamic with the musical, because they changed it up quite a bit. Not to mention the spell-binding songs like “The Wizard and I” and “Defying Gravity.”

With the movies, however, I finally noticed that the 2nd act just isn’t as good. Besides the fact that the love triangle is still ongoing — along with the origin stories of the rest of our favorite characters — there’s really no reason for the 2nd act.

It might not have seemed “complete,” but the end of the first act could have been enough. She defies the Wizard as learns to fly the broom, saying if they want to find her, just look to the Western sky. It culminates in the song “Defying Gravity,” which has become the ultimate song of the musical.

The big song of the 2nd act “Changed for Good” between Glinda and Elphaba just doesn’t compare.

Plus the reprise of “The Wizard and I,” instead of pointing to glory and aspiration, speaks of how she’s going to expose him as a fraud. There’s something unsettling about using the same star-struck, grandiose melody to say that.

So is Wiked: For Good the worse movie? It depends on if you consider it one and the same with the first one.

And since most people don’t, I’m going to say it absolutely is. It’s not necessarily deserving of that designation, though. There’s only so much you can do with sub-par source material.