Wicked: For Good (2025)

Maybe I should've rewatched the first installment before going into this one, but -- honestly -- should that be on the audience? I don't like this assumption that I should either have a good enough memory to have every plot detail locked in my brain OR be so obsessed to have rewatched the first multiple times. I mean, what would be so awful about a 5-minute refresher at the top of a sequel? But, no, we plunge right in and I felt seriously lost until I decided to stop trying to understand. Even with my lowered expectations, I still couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

The action felt too close and too fast. I was overwhelmed just trying to take in what I was seeing. There's also no standout song -- absolutely nothing I, as someone who has only heard "Defying Gravity" and "Popular" before these movies, would care to hear again. I did enjoy Dorothy showing up as a background player, performing the steps of her well-known storyline to push the "real" narrative forward, but that's where my appreciation for the script ends. Though Grande, Erivo and Bailey all play their parts well, the whole affair wound up feeling overfilled and muddy.

C-