From Elphaba belting songs and flying on her broomstick to Glinda fulfilling her duties as Glinda the Good, there were many memorable moments in “Wicked: For Good.” If you want an alternate perspective on the movie or if you want a spoiler-free review to convince you to watch it, we have you covered. Mara Kuroda and Jack Farmer have been a part of the Damascus High School Drama Club and the theater community for around four years and more outside of DHS. They have come together to give their insight into the new Wicked movie so you are truly informed! We assure you, our perspective will leave you changed for the better.
Mara Kuroda has been doing drama club for about eight years now and has loved musicals longer. Kuroda saw the musical a few weeks ago and is eager to share her thoughts. Kuroda loved how the actors cared so much about creating the film and putting in the work to transform into their characters. Kuroda also loved the symbolism about how the government is corrupt and is looking for a villain that people will attack instead of them. She thought it related to the present day. Her favorite song was “The March of the Witch Hunters” because she loves a good tenor moment in an evil song and Boq did a fabulous job of hitting all the notes. She found the way they kept Dorothy anonymous was intriguing, plus there is only one worthy and that is Judy Garland! Kuroda liked the new voice actor’s (Colman Domingo) new take on the Cowardly Lion because his voice was weirdly soothing and therapeutic.
Mara Kuroda’s only criticism of the movie was the visual effects of the scarecrow and the wizard flashbacks. Kuroda thinks they could have made it more realistic and not make the young wizard look like a TikTok filter and the scarecrow less like Ryan Reynolds. Kuroda also disliked the length of the movie saying it could have been trimmed down to two hours than three, the beginning of the movie could have been trimmed down to 10 minutes.
Some fans thought the movie was amazing but thought that Madame Morrible was very pitchy and was only a part of the movie due to the fact that she was famous. Mara Kuroda thought that “this is wildly inaccurate. The reason why Michelle Yeoh had a pitchy voice was because her character was evil and wasn’t hiding in a mask like the wizard. I wouldn’t want any other person to play her.”
All in all, Kuroda thought it was worth the watch and she will watch it again!
Jack Farmer is an avid “Wicked” fan, and was looking forward to the second half of the story being brought to the big screen. Two new songs headlined the film, with Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) delivering a message of hope in “No Place Like Home,” and Ariana Grande (Glinda) giving a heartbreaking performance in “The Girl in The Bubble.” Along with these, all the songs from Act 2 of the original return, highlighted by Erivo’s breathtaking performance in “No Good Deed,” and the tear-jerking duet in “For Good.” Despite many doubts about his performance, Ethan Slater (Boq) did the original “March of the Witch Hunters” justice with his performance, and Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero) continued his incredible streak of vocal performances from Act 1 in “As Long as You’re Mine.”
In terms of special effects and makeup, there were various reactions from fans after seeing the movie. On the positive end, Erivo’s makeup truly showed an aging Elphaba and Slater’s makeup (post-transformation) looked unbelievable. However, Bailey’s makeup (post-transformation) looked pretty good in person, but in the actual movie it looked more like bad CGI. In the flashback scene with the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), Goldblum’s body double played the younger version of himself, however some pretty “tacky” CGI was used to further de-age the double, which many fans expressed distaste for.
Another thing many fans have expressed frustration with was the casting of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and Nessarose (Marissa Bode), specifically musically. As actors, both put on great performances, but in a musical, singing should arguably be the priority and it was frustrating for fans to have to settle for a lackluster vocal performance in comparison to Erivo, Grande, Bailey, and Slater, all of whom have prior theatrical experience and outshined everyone else.
However, despite some shortcomings, most people who watched part one or enjoy musicals as a whole will find enjoyment in the second act of the story.
“Wicked: For Good” is currently in theaters, and on Dec. 31 it will be available to stream on Prime Video. If you have any interest in this movie, we recommend that you go see it and form your own opinions!
