Wicked: For Good (2025) Universal/Fantasy-Musical RT: 137 minutes Rated PG (action/violence, some suggestive material, thematic material) Director: Jon M. Chu Screenplay: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox Music: John Powell and Stephen Schwartz Cinematography: Alice Brooks Release date: November 21, 2025 (US) Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Marissa Bode, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Sharon D. Clarke, Dee Bradley Baker, Colman Domingo, Keala Settle, Adam James, Alice Fearn.
Rating: ***
Never having seen Wicked performed on stage, I can’t draw any comparisons between it and the two-part film adaptation. I can say that I enjoyed Wicked: For Good, the follow-up (or Part II) to last year’s Wicked: Part I. Directed again by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), it’s another impressively mounted production that should delight fans of the wildly popular Broadway musical. That, of course, is my own opinion. I can’t speak for the theater geeks (they’re the ones happily singing along during the numbers), but they tend to be a fussy lot. I’m sure they have plenty to say on the subject of Wicked: For Good.
Unless you’ve been living on a distant planet since the start of the millennium, you know that Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, it focuses on The Wicked Witch of the West, a green-skinned girl born under the name Elphaba Thropp. It basically tells her side of the story. The first movie (i.e. Act I) is an origin story showing how she went from insecure college student to the most feared figure in Oz, the result of being vilified by those in power after she questions their authority. She’s actually not the villain everybody’s been led to believe she is.
Wicked: For Good (or Act II) takes place about five years later. Elphaba (Erivo, Harriet) continues her crusade against the not-so-wonderful Wizard (Goldblum, Jurassic Park), trying in vain to warn the citizens of Oz what he’s really about. Lucky for him, he has the best spin doctor, Madame Morrible (Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once), looking out for him. She shields the citizens of Oz from the truth about the revered Wizard by perpetuating the lie that Elphaba is out to destroy them all.
Elphaba’s former bff Glinda the Good (pop singer Grande) is now the spokesperson for the Wizard. She’s engaged to Fiyero (Bailey, Jurassic World Rebirth), now the Captain of the Gale Force, a team of guards tasked with keeping law and order in Oz. Part of it entails locating and capturing the Wicked Witch.
Elphaba’s paralyzed half-sister Nessarose (Bode) is now the Governor of Munchkinland, taking over for her late father who died of shame over his eldest daughter. She’s already on board with all the anti-animal laws. She decides to place restrictions on Munchkin travel after her bf Boq (Slater, Lost on a Mountain in Maine) informs her he’s not that into her anymore and will be leaving. Yeah, she’s not very nice.
I’m not going to get into all the particulars of the plot, but I will say that Wicked: For Good is when the story really starts to tie into the events depicted in the Wizard of Oz. Once Dorothy Gale drops in and hits the yellow bricks with her traveling companions, things get very interesting.
The tone gets a little darker in Wicked: For Good with it’s not-too-subtle political undertones. It deals with a public figure more concerned with holding onto power through lies and hiding evidence of wrongdoing than doing right by the people who buy into his spiel. This could have weighed down the film significantly, but Chu keeps things relatively light with the bright, vibrant visual palette and the stunning costumes. The special effects look pretty good too. It’s darn good for CGI. The sight of Glinda riding around in her trademark bubble is delightful in all its nostalgia. I wouldn’t say I was wowed by any of the effects, but I never got the feeling I was looking at a video game so there’s that.
The numbers are pretty good overall. There isn’t anything as show-stopping as “Defying Gravity” this time around, but “Wonderful” comes close. It speaks to the Wizard’s enjoyment of power without truth. Goldblum crushes it. Both Erivo and Grande are in good voice. The latter shines with “The Girl in the Bubble”, a song written specifically for the movie. Erivo gets a new song just for her character, “No Place Like Home”. In it, she tries to inspire the animals to fight the power trying to oppress them. “No Good Deed” is a good one too.
The acting in Wicked: For Good is solid. Erivo and Grande have great chemistry. They easily convey the complexity of their relationship. They still care about each other even though they can’t express it publicly. Glinda is supposed to be against Elphaba even though she’s really not. Bailey is okay but underused as Fiyero, the prince who still secretly pines for Elphaba. Goldblum has fun with his role as does Yeoh. I wish Colman Domingo (Rustin) had more than a few lines as the voice of the Cowardly Lion.
I enjoyed Wicked: For Good very much. It’s a good musical film. It’s not perfect. It struggles with tone and pacing a bit. I don’t think the fans will care. You see, Wicked: For Good is review-proof. It’s going to make money regardless of what critics say. I predict it will be the smash hit of the holiday season. That is, until Avatar: Fire and Ash hits screens next month.
