The decision to split Stephen Schwartz’ singularly successful Broadway musical Wicked into two feature film adaptations was always going to present its fair share of challenges. Act 2 of Wicked is decidedly lesser than the first. It’s rushed, it’s underdeveloped, and it’s got plenty of plot holes and timeline issues that don’t quite make sense. This presented significant problems for director Jon M. Chu, and inspired doubts in me as a lifelong fan of this intellectual property. And for me, a lot was emotionally riding on Wicked: For Good, the adaptation of the musical’s second half. I want to start out here in the same way I started my Wicked: Part One review. As a passionate fan of this musical, there’s no way I can be truly objective in this review, although I had significant doubts going into the film. 

Wicked: Part One was one of the most successful films of 2024, grossing almost $800 million worldwide. It also went onto be nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning two. And aside from the box office, numerous viewers became fans after finding the film on streaming, escalating the stakes of this follow-up. And I’d personally been looking forward to this film all year, so stakes were high for me emotionally, as I’ve been burned before by the weight of my own expectations for films like this. And still, it would have broken my heart if this didn’t go well. However, I once again am reminded that I should never underestimate Jon M. Chu. Wicked: For Good is a dazzling and emotionally charged conclusion to one of the best stage-to-screen adaptations I’ve ever seen.

Picking up some time after the ending of Wicked: Part One, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) lives in exile after being vilified as the Wicked Witch of the West by her former mentor Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). Glinda (Ariana Grande) is working alongside Morrible and The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), effectively as their propaganda queen, hoping to inspire change from within. Despite their lives diverting into opposite paths, Elphaba and Glinda must reunite in hopes of changing the world of Oz for good. Matters are further complicated when a mysterious twister brings a young girl from Kansas to Oz, potentially changing the course of everyone’s lives forever.

I walked out of Wicked: Part One feeling euphoric. I was thrilled by what I’d seen and I left feeling hopeful about the future of the movie musical in general. As I was driving home from Wicked: For Good last night, the emotional impact of this story and how much all of it has meant really hit me. I left with a heavy heart, but feeling emotionally fulfilled in all the ways I’d hoped. I can say definitively after only one viewing of the film, that there’s no way anyone could have made a better adaptation of act 2 of Wicked. And the central reason I was so apprehensive going into this film is because act 2 of Wicked isn’t all that good. As I was saying, it’s rushed and underdeveloped, running under an hour (compared to the first act’s almost 90 minutes). It’s paced so quickly, hardly any of the character motivations and decisions make sense, and it lessens the impact of what’s supposed to be an emotionally satisfying conclusion. 

Deciding to split this story into two distinct parts elevates the material on a number of levels and does not simply feel like a cheap cash grab, which was my concern initially. My mind kept going back to the feature film adaptation of Into the Woods, a show that also features a significantly darker second half. That film largely doesn’t work because the shift in tone feels so jarring and out of place and it hurts the whole movie. This is something we avoid entirely with two separate Wicked films. If anything, Wicked: For Good feels more tonally consistent than Part One.

A complaint I saw a lot with part one was how the tone shifted wildly between the razzle dazzle spectacle of the musical numbers to darker themes of authoritarianism and government corruption. When For Good opens, everything in Oz has already gone wrong and it seems the bad guys have already won. This introduction sets up our protagonists’ fight with urgency and immediacy. Wicked: For Good is a dazzling spectacle and also an emotionally powerful parable about where we are right now. This source material is decades old, and yet everything about this story feels incredibly timely. 

Although I initially dismissed this as a strange casting decision, I have been proven wrong by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in every possible way. I went into this film with familiarity of their winning chemistry, but I still had some apprehension because I wasn’t sure how Ariana Grande would handle the more emotionally challenging parts of this story. To my surprise (and I shouldn’t have been surprised at this point), Grande totally walks away with this film. The way Glinda’s character arc in act 2 is expanded with such rich detail is an incredible opportunity for the actor playing her, and Grande is taking nothing for granted. In videos circulating on social media from the day Grande learned she got this part, through tears, she said something like ‘I love Glinda, I’m going to take such good care of her’. She meant it. This is transcendent, devastating work, and don’t be surprised when you see Grande near the top of the Oscar conversation again this year.

That’s not to suggest Grande’s stunning performance takes away from all the work Cynthia Erivo is doing. She continues to bring a fiery, passionate intensity to her Elphaba, and her role is equally demanding emotionally and physically. Her rendition of No Good Deed is a clear highlight, taking the spirit and energy of Defying Gravity and blowing it up from the inside. Erivo has such a remarkable handle on Elphaba’s emotional journey, and she’s thrilling to watch in every moment. Her arc, as well, is expanded significantly from the stage version and Erivo is making every detail matter. And everything in this movie hinges on the chemistry between the actresses playing Elphaba and Glinda. Without two actresses who were not absolutely in sync with each other, everything else would fall apart. And Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are a screen duo for the ages.

Everyone in our supporting cast continues to bring it, some getting a new chance to shine here, with others are sadly a bit underused. Jeff Goldblum is 2 for 2 in taking my least favorite songs from the stage musical, and completely transforming them into transfixing and memorable screen musical numbers. The Wonderful sequence is another highlight, also enhanced by the decision to add Glinda to the song, deviating from the stage version. Michelle Yeoh remains a commanding and fearsome presence as the villainous Madame Morrible. Unfortunately, Yeoh is not much of a singer, but she’s not singing a lot, and her handling of everything else this character does more than makes up for what she lacks vocally. 

Jonathan Bailey returns as Prince Fiyero, now leader of the Wizard’s guard. An Olivier winner, Bailey has this incredible musical theater background and unfortunately is rather underused in this film. Since Stephen Schwartz and Jon Chu added new songs for Elphaba and Glinda, it feels like something could have been done for Fiyero. To be fair, he isn’t in a lot of Wicked act 2 either, but the lack of expansion to his character feels like one of the film’s few missed opportunities. Marissa Bode as Nessarose gets her big song this time, and absolutely kills it, making a stronger impression here than she did in part one. Ethan Slater as the character Boq, also has more to do this time, and I thought he handled this character’s big moments quite well. 

As I was saying, Stephen Schwartz wrote two new songs for the film, Elphaba’s No Place Like Home, and Glinda’s The Girl in the Bubble. No Place Like Home feels like an anthem for right now, with lyrics that hit me right in the gut and stunning delivery by Erivo. And if Ariana Grande ends up winning the Oscar next spring, The Girl in the Bubble will be the scene that clinched it for her. It’s a beautifully tragic and heartfelt ballad that encapsulates Glinda’s emotional journey. Most importantly, the new songs do not feel like filler. Both songs fit seamlessly into the narrative and feel like they’ve always been there. I think if you didn’t walk into the film knowing these were the new songs, you simply wouldn’t know. I could see both becoming fan favorites, maybe even being added into future versions of the stage musical.

Everyone from the Wicked: Part One crew returns here as well. Cinematographer Alice Brooks seems to have taken the criticisms about her work in part one seriously, as the look of the film is more vibrant throughout. Her work in the Girl in the Bubble sequence is particularly captivating, as the scene is edited together to mimic a single unbroken shot, emphasizing the grandness of the location but also the claustrophobia felt by Glinda.

Recent Oscar winning costume designer Paul Tazewell returns as well, and I see no reason why he wouldn’t win the award again this time. The costumes are so vividly detailed and extravagant, but stop short of being too much. Production designer Nathan Crowley, who also won an Oscar for part one, will likely get nominated again as well. The enormous sets built for Shiz University are abandoned as we follow the story to new places, such as Elphaba’s lair in the woods and Glinda’s Emerald City penthouse. It’s clear an incredible amount of precision went into every detail, and I was floored by all of it.

And I think it’s clear, after In the Heights and both Wicked films, that we should just have Jon M. Chu direct all of the movie musicals from now on. There’s impeccable depth in his vision, and deep passion for the genre and a keen eye on how to creatively execute musical numbers. Playwright of the original book Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox return to pen the screenplay, and there seems to be consistency across the board regarding what everyone wanted these movies to be. Holzman and Fox are adding material from the darker Gregory McGuire novels, and every storytelling decision and every deviation from the source material feels incredibly perceptive and inspired. And perhaps most impressive, Chu finds ways to connect all of this to The Wizard of Oz that do not feel clunky or forced. After having seen both parts of this epic, it’s hard to imagine a single, condensed 2-hour version of this saga. After all, they did this with Into the Woods, and look how that turned out.

Overall, there are a few elements that hold Wicked: For Good back slightly – some cast members are underutilized and we could have done with another 20-30 minutes to flesh everything out a bit more. But ultimately, there are no egregious missteps or fatal flaws that tarnish the experience. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are the perfect Elphaba and Glinda, full stop. Everything I’ve loved about these characters for so long is realized so beautifully in these performances. And although none of the songs may be as instantly iconic as Popular or Defying Gravity, this film gives all of act 2’s numbers a breathtaking second life. Essentially, if you loved the first film or the musical, I see no reason why you wouldn’t also love this. But if you weren’t on board the first time, I don’t think this is going to win you over, but I also don’t think that’s a problem. It’s everything I could have hoped for in an adaptation of a beloved musical, and I predict both films will be rewatched and loved by audiences for years to come.