28/11/2025
Wicked: For Good (2025) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As mentioned in my initial review for 2024’s film adaptation of ‘Wicked’, I like the original stage musical but I do not love it, as I admire more the concept of telling the familiar story from a different point of view. But I absolutely loved the film adaptation of ‘Wicked - Part One’. I thought the visuals and soundtrack were absolutely breathtaking. One of the best looking films of the year with great performances from both female leads and even the supporting cast. And I did like listening to this film’s version of the songs ‘Defying Gravity, Popular and Dancing Through Life’.
Now I will admit I was a little worried about Part Two as I did hear rumours and news about how changes and songs were added. I figured some viewers, particularly fans of the original musical might get sad-angry about it. I did worry that no matter how hard it tries, it might not outmatch the first movie. But I remained optimistic - it is still the same production team, same cast, same director and both films were filmed back-to-back.
So how did ‘Wicked: For Good’ fair out? It was really good… but not as good as the original…but still really good.
I was lucky enough to attend the double feature screening of Wicked Part One and Part Two. Which in my opinion helped watching ‘For Good’ a lot more than watching the film on its own. There were several moments that happened in Part Two which were definitely hinted at in Part One which I thought was a nice touch i.e. how Elphaba found some captured animals - brilliantly foreshadowed in Part One, or subtle hints to how some characters end up in certain consequences like Boq, Fieyro and Nessa.
Cynthia Erivo still rocks as Elphaba. I did feel really bad for her character in this movie. I wanted her to save the animals, to have the Wizard tell the truth and to be with her friends but every choice she makes lead to much dire consequences. Her rendition of ‘No Good Dead’ was chilling. I was really looking forward to this song sequence since they announced the film adaptation and it excels my expectations. However, ALL praises go to Ariana Grande as Glinda. I really hope she gets an Oscar win, a nomination or at least a special recognition because this was HER movie. Part One was more of Elphaba’s story but ‘For Good’ was definitely Glinda’s story. Everything she has to go through - trying to do good for the people of Oz even if it means becoming a public image to the people of Oz, wanting to make magic when she knows she cannot do it, and go through an existential crisis having to: Personally and Professionally. All of that leading up to the well known ‘For Good’ song which was so worth sitting through 6 hours of two feature films together. And yes, it did lead to a few tears.
The rest of the supporting cast did not get as much time to shine as they did in the first movie, but they do make every screen-time they have count. Jonathan Bailey, of ocurse, still brings us the complexed charm as Fieyro. Ethan Slater surprising brought a lot of sad drama to Boq’s storyline. Michelle Yeoh (say what you will about her singing) is really wicked as the real Wicked Witch of Oz. A perfect example someone using propaganda to fit their needs for power. But I loved Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard in this film. Yes, what he is doing is not good, he is still delightfully witty and charismatic as the Wizard. Goldblum always seems to find a way to make us smile and see where this version of the Wizard is coming from. Like he said in the original Oz film, ‘he’s not a bad man just a very bad wizard’. However, I am sorry but I was not a fan of Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James returning as the comedic friends of Glinda. They were tolerable in terms of the story in the first one but while they are not in this film a lot, every time they appeared I did not find them funny. However there was one moment (without spoiling anything) that justified their appearance in this movie for me, whether it was intentional or not.
Much like the first film, the production work, sets, costumes. and dance choreography is breathtaking. This is a big BIG movie to make. I can feel so much of the sweat and effort put into making the land of Oz feel like a big wonderful world you could live into. There were even a couple of scenes I wanted to go back and rewatch again whether it is a song number or a particular scene.
The first half of the film actually had the same vibes of the first film. The pacing was nicely done - despite a few padded moments. Everything with the plot, the characters, the songs. the visuals and the mature themes sprinkled across the film like animal travel immigration, truth manipulations, human rights, existential purposes and propaganda were handled well. It did dive into a lot of consequences of each characters’ choices from the first movie. Whether it was Elphaba’s journey to save the animals leading to the newly-made restrictions for animals to travel. Or Glinda’s choice to join the Wizard leaving her to question her own lifestyle- being the centre of attention whilst hiding a lot of secrets to keep her popularity status. We even see how Oz has changed throughout since the propaganda of the Wicked Witch and the building of the Yellow Brick began.
So where did it go wrong for me? Honestly, right when Dorothy comes to Oz.
I do not want to spoil a lot but those who have seen the original stage musical, would look at the second half of this movie and say ‘This is just like the stage show except with so much padding’. Part One had some moments that were padded out too but it added so much with the world building, characters and storytelling. The only time the padding worked in ‘For Good’ was when it had to centre around Elphaba and Glinda especially how their journeys have been intertwined between both movies. Everything else felt really slow. I was disappointed that there were some elements that could have given into a bit more in a feature film format, like Nessa’s dilemma taking over as Governor, the love triangle between Elphaba, Fieyro and Glinda, and even the ‘Wizard of Oz' elements. They all felt a little rushed or played too safe.
I know there are scenes presented the same way as they were in the original stage show but this is a movie. They could have done something a bit more rather than just do it like it was done on stage. I don’t mind Dorothy not showing her face. I don't mind the story of ‘Wizard of Oz’ being shown in the background while this other story is going on. I do have a few mixed feelings with how the Wizard of Oz characters were done. The Good: the Tin-Man was both sad and scary to watch. Mixed: The Cowardly Lion was a good inclusion but I feel like anyone could have voiced him. Bad: The Scarecrow disappointed me the most in terms of his screen-time and appearance. The prosthetics were amazing but they could have delved into the design or his screen-time a little bit more. Especially with all the posters and marketing, this might come across as cheap.
Even some rumoured changes did not really add a lot. One change I can understand and I did like was how in the stage musical, Elphaba casts a spell on the “ruby slippers” to make Nessa walk. In the film, they had the character levitate instead. That’s a good change and a nice workaround the film’s limitations. It’s a nice parallel to the whole ‘Everyone deserves the chance to fly’ line. But the only other changes I can think of are mainly the new songs given to Erivo and Grande, which I am not going to remember as much as the other songs. But they do add a little bit of something to the plot or characters.
I have a theory that there were plans to change or add a few things but maybe the makers were not allowed to. Maybe it was because of copyright, maybe it was too risky to pull off, or maybe they did want to get angry comments from fans of the original musical. Either way, something must have happened to make the second half of the film feel too safely played.
But all those nitpicks aside, I still had a really good time with this movie.
So in conclusion, ‘Wicked: For Good’ does not reach the same magic as the first ‘Wicked’ film did, I still had a real good time watching it - both movies in general. I am glad I got to see the story beats and songs I wanted to see done on the big screen, especially ’No Good Dead’ and ‘As Long as You’re Mine’. It did live up to my expectations on how I thought they were going to portray certain story beats and scenes that happened in the stage version. But it did feel like that there might have been a bit of studio meddling within the second half of this story. But it still gave us the ‘Wicked’ musical in the movie medium. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have beautiful chemistry together. And the rest of the cast again do great work supporting their stories. The soundtrack is great. The new songs, while not memorable as the existing songs, do add a little in terms of our main leads’ growths. The sets and costumes are gorgeous and colourful. The cinematography is great and the musical numbers are grand spectacles.
All praise to director Jon M. Chu for tackling on such a big passionate project. I think he did musical theatre films justice these last two years. It was a smart move to present this story into two films, especially since each half is different from each other. It might be hard to watch this movie on its own whilst Part One easily could work either as a first chapter or as a standalone film. But it still felt like both films were done by the same group of people who enjoyed making them. I would recommend watching both movies together.
I hear there are talks about a possible Wicked 3. I personally do not want to see it since both movies ended it perfectly. But I am aware that there are other books of the so-called ‘Wicked’-verse book series by author Gregory Maguire that they could dive into. But if they do make make one, there had better be a really good idea behind it.
While this movie was not quite as ‘Wonderful’ as the first film, but ‘Thank Goodness’ the film was still good enough to have us feel changed ‘For Good’.
