When it was first announced that Wicked, the long-awaited adaptation of the stage musical, would be two movies rather than just one, I have to say I was more than a little disappointed. Generally speaking, I’m really not a fan of adaptations that split themselves in half. I didn’t like it when Harry Potter did it, and I’m not even really a fan of Kill Bill as two films.
Splitting a story into two films always feels more like a studio decision made to double the ticket sales than it does a creative decision to make a better film. That said, I actually really enjoyed Wicked: Part One and thought it worked quite well as a single movie. Unfortunately, the sequel is far less successful.
I Loved How Wicked: Part One Worked As A Singular Movie
My major takeaway from Wicked: Part One when I saw it, was that I was impressed by how well the movie worked by itself. I called it the best “part one” movie I had seen at the time. By virtue of the fact that the original musical has a set break between its two acts, and the fact that there’s a time jump between them that’s measured in years, Act One, and by extension movie one, largely has to tell a complete story.
Elphaba has a complete character arc throughout Act One, which makes the first movie satisfying. There isn’t a need for another film to make it feel like a whole story. If only that had been the case with Wicked: For Good.
Wicked: For Good Doesn’t Work Nearly As Well On Its Own
Knowing how well Wicked: Part One worked on its own, and thinking that, having only seen the movie a year ago, that I remembered everything that happened in it, I decided not to rewatch the first movie before sitting down for For Good. This was a mistake on my part.
I wasn’t entirely wrong. When it came to the major plot beats, the primary cast, I remembered who everybody was, what their relationships were, and where the plot had left each of them. However, there were a lot of smaller details that I could not remember.
Did I recall that Elphaba had a run-in with a lion cub in the last movie? Yes. Could I tell you exactly what actually happened between them? No. Elphaba’s friend, who is a bear? No idea. Are we sure that was in the first movie?
While Elphaba’s character arc is complete at the end of the first film, For Good is much more the Glinda story. Nearly all of her character growth happens in the second film. That works pretty well, all things considered, but ultimately, Wicked is about the relationship between Elphaba and Glinda, and that’s the arc that does get chopped in half. The emotional finale of the film isn’t Glinda’s resolution; it’s the resolution of the relationship, and that’s done a disservice by the split story.
Wicked still works better than most stories that are split in half. It’s two chapters of the story, rather than one chapter being sliced in half. But ultimately, the sequel doesn’t work on its own the way the first movie did. That’s fine, but maybe take some time to rewatch Part One before going to see For Good.