L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” was adapted into a musical film, “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) starring Judy Garland. Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” is an unofficial prequel to Baum’s novel and inspired Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz to adapt Maguire’s work into a Broadway musical. “Wicked: For Good” (2025) adapts the Broadway musical’s second act and starts after the events of “Wicked” (2024). Unpopular opinion, even better than the first, the second film only loses momentum in its final moments, which are mostly a retread of the opening of the first movie. This review is not for the hard core “Wicked” fans, but for those who have never read the book or seen the musical but know enough to credit Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as the original Broadway cast members who played Galinda and Elphaba respectively. I was interested in seeing it because I have a pulse, enjoy musicals, and try not to miss Erivo in any movie.
Unsurprisingly the entire cast is even stronger this time around and are really permitted to let loose. It is implied that it is many years after everyone has matriculated from Shiz University and are engaged in their full-time careers. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) are using an amendable Glinda (Arianna Grande-Butera) as Glinda the Good, a counter powerful propaganda image to Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), who has been successfully branded as the Wicked Witch of the West despite her futile efforts to expose the Wizard’s lack of magic and animal rights atrocities. Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) is captain of the Vale Force, who are assigned the tasks of capturing Elphaba and becoming engaged to Glinda. Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), has become Governor of Munchkinland with Boq (Ethan Slater) still at her side. She must decide whether to fall in line with the establishment or protect the people under her rule. All the animals with sense are running before they get enslaved, separated from their loved ones, de-voiced, used and abused for hard labor, i.e. how the yellow brick road got built. Their plight felt reminiscent of Morder from “Lord of the Rings.”
Watching “Wicked: For Good” so soon after “The Running Man” (2025) is a surreal experience. Both films address how the oppressed are villainized, so the masses are willing to victimize them while congratulating themselves for being good while being anything but. Unlike “The Running Man,” “Wicked: For Good” mostly sticks the landing without letting down the setup. It is a bit of wishful thinking about how to feasibly turn the propaganda machine in the downtrodden’s favor and the value of having an insider who is willing to have a change of heart. In the real world, are adult insiders able to be changed? Awww, aren’t movies delightful. This movie is stronger because it mostly humanizes the leaders’ mindset and why they are horrible.
Glinda adores the adulation and perks of her position but understands that she is an empty vessel without any authentic connections even with pending nuptials. Grande-Butera nails the character, and my actor friend complimented how she can smile but not the smile does not reach her eyes. The Wizard is on automatic huckster mode and drinking more to console himself for failing to trick get Elphaba as an ally, which is “Sentimental Value” (2025) levels of unknowing intuition about their connection. Nessa is worse than you remember her. She is more insecure because of her association with Elphaba, makes everything about herself instead of serving her people, is always dissatisfied and constantly moving goal posts. She is the reason that doves cry. Boq is as awful as you remember. He fails to recognize when someone is on his side and who is his worst enemy. When the latter two meet their fates, you will not feel a bit bad for them and may actually cheer. Yeoh is a scene stealer as the only one living her best life.
If Madame Morrible has breath, she will hate on Elphaba and use all her strength and power to destroy her. Her commitment is never explained, and in this installment, she appears to be pulling the Wizard’s strings more, but this element is underdeveloped and could just be the innate power of Yeoh’s performance if the origin is not found in the source materials. She has nothing but open disdain and contempt for the people who are allegedly her allies.
Erivio comes out of the gate strong showing Elphaba at her full strength from her first appearance. It is a relief that this time around director Jon M. Chu and editor Myron Kerstein did not feel the need to constantly cut and shift focus during the songs and allowed moviegoers to just soak in the songs. The first movie suffered because “Defying Gravity” soars as a song, but the images did not match the rhythm and sustained focus of the music. “Wicked: For Good” does not suffer this problem. Elphaba is still frustratingly naïve but her eventual plan shows how she adapts and learns from the opposition’s tricks.
Erivio and Bailey, two people who are as gay as the day is long, have scorching chemistry together and kill “As Long As You’re Mine.” Along with Erivio, Bailey and Diego Luna from “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (2025) need to offer a masterclass to actors on how to convincingly desire your on-screen lover. No one has an excuse for falling short. There were a few moments when Elphaba suddenly needed saving, which required Herculean suspensions of disbelief and is frankly ridiculous. He is Lois Lane, and she is Superman. This world does not have kryptonite. Elphaba’s true weakness is caring for horrible people, which explains why Glinda seems like a friend. Everyone could learn from this story. It was also interesting that the animals never listen to her though she is clearly on their side whereas Glinda barely utters a word, and they will back her up. Another valuable lesson!
“Wicked: For Good” loses steam when it covers the reprise of “The Wizard of Oz” scenes or repeats scenes from the first movie. Maybe the filmmakers are correct not to have confidence that the audience saw either movie, but anything that is the equivalent of a clip show is tedious. Also they did not have Marvel money, and a flashback of a younger Wizard is uncanny valley in the worst sense of the word. A foreign film with modest resources, “Sentimental Value,” did a better job de-aging a famous actor. It was so bad that it would have been better to just cast a young actor who resembles Goldblum. It does feel as if the movie threw in a possible intriguing mythology of the power of both worlds at the eleventh hour without doing anything with it. Also considering the identity of the Scarecrow, this retrofitting is awkward at best.
“Wicked: For Good” is Orwell for kids of any age, especially theater kids and the fans who would love it regardless of quality. It still could have been shorter or condensed into one movie. The second movie is actually good so even if you skipped the first or did not care for it, it is worth a shot. It is an entertaining lesson about a dystopian world clothed in daytime carnie magic which is sadly germane to everyone. Even kids will get it though it may be too scary for them.
