The last shot of Wicked blares on screen. Elphaba, flying high in the sky, ends with the magnificent riff of “Defying Gravity.” The screen goes black. You leave the theater, awed and gabbling about the dazzling musical production you have just witnessed.
One year later, you return for the sequel, Wicked: For Good.
Overall, it’s certainly not the worst movie I’ve seen. The vocals, set design, and music work together to bring the world of Oz to life, but the execution feels rushed and leaves many loose ends untied.
Released in theaters on November 21st, 2025, Wicked: For Good covers the second half of the Wicked Broadway musical, and is set some time after the events of the first movie.
Elphaba, the green sorceress played by Cynthia Erivo, is in hiding whilst sporadically appearing in public to berate the Wizard of Oz. Meanwhile, Glinda, Elphaba’s sole friend, played by Ariana Grande, has been launched into stardom as the “Good Witch” public figure – despite the fact that she has no real magical powers.
Right off the bat, Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship is tested: Glinda is publicly on the Wizards side, and thereby has to spread the propaganda of Elphaba being the “Wicked Witch of the West.” But secretly, Glinda misses her friend and does not want harm to come to her. The two are at odds because Elphaba is still trying to expose the Wizard of Oz’s fraud and refuses to back down, leading to both verbal arguments and an almost-comical fight scene.
The thing that most jumps out to me about this movie is the visual kerfuffle. Throughout the movie, the cameras spin and swoop with dizzying and unnecessary gusto. Wicked: For Good’s director, Jon M. Chu, even told Entertainment Weekly that he “forgot” to inform the cameramen of the choreography in Erivo’s “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.”
Not to mention, the movie is full of plot holes and confusing jumps. The writers attempt to painstakingly contort the story to match the original 1939 Wizard of Oz, and the effect only makes the production more disconcerting to viewers.
Additionally, the dialogue and line delivery are often blunt and unconvincing for almost all of the main characters, including Erivo. Although she is an absolute vocal powerhouse, her line deliveries are often flat, giving little insight into her personality and making it harder for the audience to connect with her.
Grande, however, does manage to synthesize a convincing character for most of the movie. Her acting is much more sincere than the actors for Boq and Nessa, but her portrayal is oddly delicate compared to Glinda’s bubbling energy in the Broadway musical.
However, Erivo explained in a BAFTA interview that the two Wicked movies were actually filmed simultaneously over the course of 14 months. The scenes of the films were shot out of order and intermixed, so the cast’s lack of enthusiasm on-screen is perhaps unsurprising.
The most convincing acting comes when Erivo and Grande are performing together. Here, their genuine, real life friendship shines through, uplifting the film – especially in the heart-touching duet, “For Good.”
There were several changes from the original musical to the film productions. Most notably, the addition of two new songs, “No Place Like Home,” sung by Erivo, and “The Girl in the Bubble” sung by Grande.
Surprisingly, these songs actually improve the movie – in terms of character development if not entertainment value. Neither is very memorable or exciting, but “No Place Like Home” helps the audience understand Elphaba’s motivation to fight for Oz, and “The Girl in the Bubble” gives us a window into Glinda’s mind as she realizes where her loyalties truly lie.
You might expect radiant, bright colors to glare at you from every direction in such a fantastical, otherly world, much like the technicolor in the Wizard of Oz. However, the scenes in the second Wicked film are dismayingly dull. This is especially noticeable in Glinda’s ‘headquarters,’ which, while tasteful, is not a fairy-tale princess’s dream – more like a Beverly Hills teenager’s.
But, the one actor that truly shines in this movie? Jeff Goldblum, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He would be the saving grace of Wicked: For Good, if only it could be saved.
