WICKED FOR GOOD Review
- Gerald Morris
- Nov 19
- 4 min read
For more than twenty years, Wicked has been less a musical and more a cultural fixture—the kind of mega-hit that seeps into the bloodstream of pop culture and refuses to fade. Its arrival on screen has felt inevitable, and yet the challenge of converting Broadway’s most mythic two-act structure into a pair of films was enormous. Wicked: Part One landed with promise but also with substantial problems. Now, with Wicked for Good, the saga reaches its conclusion—and the surprising truth is that this “quieter,” traditionally heavier second act translates far more confidently to cinema than anyone expected.
A STORY THAT BREATHES ON SCREEN
The film picks up where the first left off: Elphaba condemned as public enemy, Glinda elevated as Oz’s carefully polished face of “goodness,” and the political machine of the Wizard and Madam Morrible tightening around them both. Once Dorothy arrives, the familiar pieces of the 1939 iconography sync up with this contemporary interpretation, but the movie refuses to rely on nostalgia. Instead, it leans into the darker, more ideological threads the stage version often underplays.
What felt heavy or inert in the theater becomes sharp and startling on screen. The social commentary—propaganda, public manipulation, entire groups rendered voiceless—hits with a clarity that feels uncomfortably modern. The text hasn’t changed, but time has caught up to it. Jeff Goldblum’s Wizard has a line about people “believing what they want to believe,” and it lands like a dagger. The film doesn’t editorialize; it just shows how easily history repeats itself.
MUSICAL MOMENTS
Act II has always been known as the “serious half,” the side without the spectacle or fireworks of Act I. Ironically, that restraint becomes its greatest cinematic advantage.
“For Good” is the best sequence Jon M. Chu has directed across both films—intimate, unfussy, emotionally surgical. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande lock into that moment with a precision and honesty that match any top-tier movie musical from the modern era. No bells, whistles, or heightened staging. Just two performers laying bare the entire heart of this story.
The standout original number, “The Girl in the Bubble,” is another high point. It is both a character pivot and an introspective beat that feels unmistakably drawn from Grande’s own public life. It gives Glinda a dimension the stage musical rarely invests in—self-reckoning rather than simply self-presentation.
A CAST DEFYING GRAVITY
Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba has always been the emotional spine of these films, but part two allows her full dynamic range to take center stage. This is a richer, more haunted, more deeply internal performance than what she delivered in part one. She wears the contradictions of Elphaba—idealism, guilt, anger, compassion—like second skin.
Ariana Grande, meanwhile, delivers something shockingly lived-in. Her Glinda is not satire or caricature; she’s a woman wrestling with the consequences of image, ambition, and misguided loyalty. Grande doesn’t just interpret the role—she defines it for the screen the same way Kristin Chenoweth once defined it for the stage.
Jeff Goldblum benefits from clearer writing this time, his Wizard emerging as more than a smirking manipulator. And Ethan Slater—almost no one has been talking about him, but they should—delivers a genuinely bruising turn as Boq. Once his arc pivots, his presence becomes one of the film’s secret weapons.
As for Michelle Yeoh, the miscasting is even more pronounced here. A great actor in the wrong key. Her Morrible lacks the theatrical bite and sinister playfulness that the character demands, and the energy mismatch stands out in an otherwise cohesive ensemble.
THE TECHS
Here’s the biggest surprise: the movie looks better—far better—than Part One. Shot concurrently, yes, but you wouldn’t guess it. Alice Brooks reins in the over-processed visual style of the first film and brings Oz back to earth. Actual shadows. Actual contrast. Environments that feel tactile rather than digitally lacquered. The production design and costume work remain outstanding, but they no longer have to fight against neon saturation to be appreciated.
The visual effects, unfortunately, are where the film stumbles. The reliance on CGI for the talking animals—especially the Cowardly Lion—works against the movie. When a 1939 lion costume has more character than a 2025 render, that’s a red flag. A practical-effects blend would have grounded these sequences dramatically and aesthetically.
OSCAR HOPES?
Despite some early hand-wringing on social media, this is absolutely still an awards player. The broader emotional impact, the thematic potency, and the overall improvement from part one all strengthen its position; not to mention the inevitable box office success.
Best Picture: Still very much in the game.
Lead Actress: Cynthia Erivo remains a contender, though the category is becoming more brutal every week.
Supporting Actress: Ariana Grande is firmly in the top tier and could easily take this home if industry sentiment holds.
Craft Categories: Cinematography, production design, costumes, and hair/makeup all deserve serious consideration.
Original Song: “The Girl in the Bubble” performed by Grande is essentially locked for a nomination.
Best Casting (new category): This ensemble absolutely warrants inclusion—provided voters can see past the Morrible problem.
THE VERDICT
Wicked for Good achieves the rare feat of elevating a second chapter into something more unified, more resonant, and more emotionally muscular than its predecessor. It’s a more confident film—narratively, visually, and dramatically. It respects its stage roots while carving out its own cinematic identity.
A decade from now, I suspect these two films will stand alongside Chicago and West Side Story as essential stage-to-screen touchstones—modern musicals that didn’t simply recreate a legacy, but expanded it. It's a stirring, thematically potent finale that cements Wicked as one of the definitive musical adaptations of its era.
🍿 SCORE = 83 / 100
Wicked For Good is playing in theaters (11/21).