The sequel to the hit 2024 musical is less good and more wicked, or more bad. The 2024 film was more rousing, more engaging and more comedic. Generally, the 2024 entry was more entertaining. This sequel feels like a soap bubble bursting. It's not like the popping of a filled balloon. It feels like a soap bubble bursting in that it doesn't have much of an impact. This sequel is very much a letdown. The previous film wasn't my favorite, but the 2024 flick is still far better than this, which feels like a denouement that was mostly unnecessary.
The only times it didn't come across as unnecessary is when the film is being "wicked" or arguably "naughty." For the most part, the film feels like a live-action Disney feature. It's likely to attract an audience that dreamed of being a princess from some fairy tale, but then there's a scene where the recently crowned "Sexiest Man Alive," so says People magazine, gets to be sexy, meaning his character has intercourse. There's also a scene where the two protagonists get into a catfight, a silly over-the-top one. Both scenes were seemingly out of place in this narrative, but both scenes also perked people's interests because they felt wicked or naughty compared to the Disney princess-like nature of everything else.
Cynthia Erivo (Harriet and Widows) stars as Elphaba Thropp, the so-called Wicked Witch of the West, but this film is supposed to be a prequel to the famous events in the book by L. Frank Baum, which was adapted into the even more famous musical, The Wizard of Oz (1939). If one believed this to be a true prequel where we watch how this iconic character became the villain we all know, much in the vein of the Star Wars (1977) prequels in regard to Darth Vader or Better Call Saul (2015) in regard to Saul Goodman, then that would be one thing, but that's not really the case here. This film is more an alternate history that's trying to argue the Wicked Witch of the West wasn't "wicked" at all.
Unfortunately, it's my contention that watching a hero become a villain would've been more interesting. Having Elphaba truly become the Wicked Witch would've been incredible. She could've been redeemed in the end or shown to have more layers, but, as this film stands, Elphaba feels more like a "Mary Sue" trope. Given that Elphaba is played by a Black person and given how a lot of this film places a White person more in the lead, Elphaba can also feel dangerously close to the Magical Negro trope.
Ariana Grande (Don't Look Up and Hairspray Live!) also stars as Galinda Upland, the so-called Glinda the Good Witch. Grande was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for this role and in the 2024 film, she felt like a supporting character. However, here, she feels more like the lead. It really does feel like this is more Grande's film than Erivo's. There are interesting things in her being the lead. This film imagines her more as a political figure, one that cares more about how things look rather than how they are. She's more concerned with optics and not policies. She's more superficial rather than substantive.
Her presence here is representative of various political figures that exist in the real world. The film even touches upon political issues like discrimination and bigotry. Unfortunately, the film is as superficial about those issues, as Galinda is in total. A criticism of the 2024 film is the lack of world-building and this film doesn't correct that criticism. This film throws out examples of discrimination and bigotry, but it never explains why or from where that bigotry stems, which good world-building would have done. We briefly see Munchkins and talking animals being discriminated, but the film devotes so little time on it, even in the previous film, that it makes it difficult to care about the bigotry, let alone understand it.
If one was wondering if this film would introduce us to the protagonist of The Wizard of Oz, that of Dorothy Gale, as well as the companion characters of the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, then the answer is yes and no. If one wants to think of unnecessary things, the way that this film deals with Dorothy and those three mythical companions for her was absolutely unnecessary and felt like a waste of time, if not a weird distraction. Speaking of which, Jonathan Bailey (Fellow Travelers and Bridgerton), the recently crowned "Sexiest Man Alive," despite being eye-candy, also felt like a waste of time. In what is essentially a fairy tale, he fulfills that handsome prince role perfectly, but it's odd because he's positioned as the love interest. Yet, the true love story has nothing to do with him. The love between female friends is the true love story here.
Jeff Goldblum (Independence Day and Jurassic Park) plays the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He's given a fairly good musical number called "Wonderful," which is probably my favorite musical number in this film. Yet, there's a revelation regarding his character that falls flat in terms of its impact. It's almost as if the revelation isn't relevant or matters at all. Again, it becomes like a soap bubble bursting.
Rated PG for action, violence and some thematic material.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 17 mins.
In theaters.