*There will be some spoilers throughout this, so please be mindful*
Let me give you a little backstory on my history with Wicked as a musical property. I delved into it a little bit in my review for Part One, which you can find here...but I want to go into it a little deeper.
I was a freshman in high school when Wicked premiered on Broadway and I would eventually end up seeing it twice: in 2005 (with Eden Espinosa & Megan Hilty) and 2007 (Julia Murney & Kendra Kassebaum).
Those who know me would automatically suspect that I might hold my nose up at Wicked. At the time, you could argue that I most definitely did. I was already a Sondheim fanboy and had spent that Broadway season championing Tesori & Kushner's Caroline, or Change and embracing the subversively sweet and raunchy Avenue Q.
I will gladly admit that there were certain songs and moments from the show that I was fond of pretty much instantaneously, but I think what truly hurt the show was the Book by Winnie Holzman. It always felt a bit rushed at times and suffered due to how key plot points (namely the scenes involving Dr. Dillamond or The Wizard) were presented...and I will address those a bit more within the review.
While there had been an extensive amount of people who attacked the first film for being very long and also lacking vibrant cinematography (not a criticism I latched onto), I was blown away by it. The team gave this story room to breathe and while maybe it could've been trimmed a tiny bit, I think the first film was mostly a resounding success.
However...those of us who have seen Wicked onstage or at least to those who may have listened to the Cast Recording religiously, know that Act II is not as strong. That isn't unusual by any means; most musical fans know that Act II is usually weaker than Act I. Not everything can be Into the Woods in that regard.
After seeing the first film, it was clear to me that Chu, Holzman, and Fox were going down the right path. If any part of the Wicked story could use expansion and development to reach a stronger potential, it was the second act.
One of the biggest signs of this was when the trailer dropped and it showed a glimpse of a scene that implied that Glinda was added to the song "Wonderful", which was originally just done with The Wizard and Elphaba. Not long before the film's release, a small clip of "Wonderful" was released to the public and it solidified my belief that the creative team found ways to deepen this material.
I am getting ahead of myself, though.
These days, the hype train is a dangerous mode of travel. It ends up being subject to opinion, but for every film that meets the level of acclaim you are hearing (One Battle After Another), there is another that misses the station (Sinners).
Wicked: For Good reactions from the first people to see it were rapturous with many deeming it superior to the first film and that Jon M. Chu stuck the landing and that we would likely see Erivo and Grande repeating their Oscar nominations...with many thinking Grande could actually WIN.
Once the critics reviews began to pour in, the response was drastically different. As of this exact moment, the film has a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. To put this into perspective, recently maligned Oscar nominated films that have higher scores are Emilia Perez at 71% (the audience score at cheekily opposite 17% is far more fitting), Crash at 74, and Green Book at 77.
Meanwhile - W:FG's audience score is 97%
If I am being honest, I really don't get the aggressive criticism.
Despite its length more than double that of Act Two, W:FG does benefit from the time to breathe. While I do think some of the inherent issues with that act are apparent regardless, I do appreciate the power of seeing it deepened onscreen and some of the new changes they made.
One of the biggest differences with this portion of the saga is that it is significantly darker, and I do suppose that there are people who may take issue with the tonal shift that weren't familiar with the material in the first place.
I do very much love the world building here, and I would argue that the colors/cinematography are far more vibrant...which I do wonder if that happened after the vitriol towards how bland the first film often looked. While I did understand that to an extent, the amount of hatred it got seemed turned up to 11 and as if it was somehow a nail in the coffin it couldn't overcome; I didn't relate to it that intensely.
What truly sells this film would be the glorious ensemble of actors. While Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum more or less do what they need to do, (although I would argue Yeoh mostly sleepwalks through a lot of the film) you really see the chops from Marissa Bode as Nessarose and Ethan Slater as Boq. While these two end up becoming fairly insufferable characters in a lot of ways in this portion of the story, I feel as though these two acted with such intensity that it made those scenes more powerful than I ever remembered them being onstage. Not surprisingly though, I did come away thinking more about Jonathan Bailey and, but of course, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
Bailey, who was recently crowned People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, does a very good job at showing the growth of Fiyero from a lackadaisical rich boy with no ambition to fighting for what he truly believes in. You could sort of compare that journey to the character of Younger Brother from Ragtime.
As expected, his steamy duet with Ervio, "As Long as You're Mine" is rather effective in how timid she is and how passionate he is. Watching her come around and then matching his level of passion was a joy to watch and when the number ended, the theater broke into applause.
Speaking of Erivo, it is truly remarkable how much she has given the role of Elphaba such a heavy emotional weight that I've never quite seen any other pull off. You could argue that is due to the fact we are watching her up close, but I still think the vulnerability makes me care about her far more than I ever had as a character.
Her new song, that she said she helped Stephen Schwartz write, is called "No Place Like Home". Much like the title, I will admit that it is about as bland and typical as you would expect. She sings it nicely, but the song is fairly forgettable. HOWEVER - the use of CGI animals is surprisingly affective in this and proved to be a key to making me a bit emotional at times. It is honestly quite a feat because the Animal Rights' concepts in the stage musical were some of the more awkward scenes...but I still think it's because watching a real actor comically done up as a goat to play Dillamond comes off as unintentionally comedic. For the film, it works rather well, and it makes you only want to side with Elphaba more.
Oh, and it must be said, Erivo's "No Good Deed" is easily a film highlight. Filmed amidst fire and fury with the aesthetic of burning charcoal, she sells it to the point that her eyes look as if they are bloodshot with rage and inconsolable regret.
Then we get to Ariana Grande, the "Girl in the Bubble" (a song that was marginally better than Erivo's new song but not by much). In many ways, this film belonged to the character of Glinda more than Elphaba and a lot of that has to do with the character arc that Glinda goes down.
She is a puppet who is getting the power and attention she always craved, but now it is at the expense of her dear friend. She has no real magical power, and she is just as much an allusion as The Wizard is. I am most definitely one of the people who heard of her casting and was like "Oh god why?".
Keep in mind, I knew she had acting abilities. I actually found out about her years ago when she was featured in Jason Robert Brown's (horrible) Broadway musical 13. I knew she went on to act on Sam & Cat and became something of a modern-day Mariah Carey pop icon.
It wasn't so much that I doubted she could pull of the vocals of the film, but I didn't know how well she could act the emotional beats convincingly. To her credit, she knew the gravity of what this role would entail. In interviews, she has stated how she cancelled a tour to go into prep for her audition by training with a vocal coach to properly sing coloratura soprano and also attended acting classes at Stella Adler.
The results are on the screen...and even though she has seemingly gotten some rather mediocre reviews, I truly don't get it. I think she came out of these two films proving that she is just as worthy of getting plum acting roles just as Cher and Lady Gaga did before her. I would even argue that the potential Grande shows here makes me truly excited to see her take on more dramatic material or a very sophisticated comedy.
There is one moment where a lot of the realities hit Glinda all at once and the camera focuses on her face while The Wizard and Madame Morrible in the background. Grande's tear-streamed face and her thought process felt so painful and genuine...and while there were a couple of times that I feel like the crying felt a tad forced, she was mainly believable in expressing that grief and the regret of how she has handled this whole situation.
I do want to express two other facets of the film that have gotten some criticism. The first is one I referenced already, but I want to delve into it more: the song "Wonderful".
In the stage show, this is a song only performed by The Wizard with Elphaba only interjecting near the end...but in the stage show, I have always thought of as The Wizard as an afterthought character, and it doesn't help that with how rushed Act Two is, it makes you wonder how Elphaba almost seems to buy into his plea with little issue.
I think adding in Glinda to the song in the film was a masterstroke in many ways. Giving the scene a little more length makes it feel more believable while having Glinda there makes Elphaba perhaps more susceptible to caving under pressure.
Considering the song's more "Tin Pan Alley" melody, it is stark contrast to the rest of the film which some have criticized, but make no mistake, the subtext of this whole song a lot darker with Glinda folded into it. Schwartz even changed Elphaba's only lyric in the song ("it does sound wonderful") to a lyric for Glinda ("Come and be wonderful") which gives off the feeling that she is willing to overlook so much as if she is in a cult. Add in that Glinda begins doing the Ozdust dance routine as a cherry on top and the scene is almost diabolical in its juxtaposition. Count me in on loving how this song was presented as in the stage show, it is an afterthought that was written to give Joel Grey another song to sing. I will also add that I loved the tip of the hat to Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator with the bouncing globe; something that was also touched upon during Goldblum's "A Sentimental Man" in the first film.
Although one of the more divisive bits of criticism we have is the shoehorning in of The Wizard of Oz timeline and how Dorothy factors into the proceedings.
This was an aspect that is indeed a part of the stage show, but I think the film was wise to take out some of the more direct lines that felt a bit "wink wink/nudge nudge" to referencing that iconic film.
I will admit that I was a bit bummed that the "we all can't come and go by bubble" line was moved to a different scene and done more earnestly instead of a snarky jab. I also missed Glinda's darkly humorous "a regime change!" comment after the death of Nessa.
I think the other big issue with the inclusion of this property is that the timeline and character dynamics don't feel in line with The Wizard of Oz. Imagine Jack Haley's meek Tin Man ("Picture meeeeeeee, a balconyyyyyyy...") being the same one who is leading an angry mob of witch hunters...and when exactly does Dorothy interact with him and Fiyero, who becomes the iconic Scarecrow? Elphaba casts a spell to turn Fiyero into something to prevent him from getting killed when the other guards discover he is actually looking to help Elphaba rather than catch her...even to the point of threatening to kill Glinda to do it.
When it comes to this aspect of the story, you really have to strain to try to fit it within the logistics of the 1939 film...but honestly, while it is a flaw of sorts, I think it is better to just avoid it and treat it as a whole separate entity.
When it comes to the final moments, it is clear that Erivo and Grande developed a strong bond with one another in real life; all you have to do is watch their interviews for further proof of that. The song "For Good" has become something of a tearjerker for the ages (although I admittedly did not cry surprisingly), and I do think you can totally buy the love these two shared. Plus - the shot of the two of them on either side of a door was very effective knowing that Elphaba is about to meet her "demise".
For those who know Wicked as a musical, Elphaba stages her death and then escapes Oz with Fiyero. In order to protect themselves and Glinda, they have to let her believe that both of them are dead.
With everything that has happened, Glinda is now essentially left all alone and has to do what she can to move on and truly become, as she has been posing, "Glinda the Good". When I first saw the musical 20 years ago, I actually told myself that Glinda knew they were alive because shockingly, I didn't want to think otherwise. Looking back on that now, I am a little surprised I had that response as I was already a pretentious film bro who embraced anything darker and depressing as being high art.
I am not claiming that Wicked is high art, but I do really love the idea of them surviving while Glinda has to cope with the grief...and with the final added touch that Glinda activated the Grimmerie (potentially with help from Elphaba) AND the fact that she lets the animals back into Oz as their own autonomous beings, the ending hit me hard. Plus, it did feel like a sweet touch that the final shot of the film was a tribute to the artwork of the Original Broadway Cast Recording.
I didn't cry, but the closest I came wasn't during them singing "For Good", but rather when we see the animals welcomed back to Oz with open arms, complete with Dr. Dillamond returning to his classroom. To reiterate, what was almost awkward and laughable onstage became far more potent on film.
And that is Wicked: For Good...a film that I do think is surprisingly getting raked over the coals. I think in the grand scheme, the first film hits a little harder and works with better consistent material, but this follow up is a great example of "the whole is better than the sum of its parts".
The film also seemed to try a bit too hard in certain ways, as I felt the dialogue relied on more of the fantastical wordings and phrases. Like - in theory - I like the term "I'll be with you in a clock tick", but did we REALLY need them to reuse it a few times?? I don't recall it being used in the first film at all (I actually can't recall if it was even used in the stage version), so it just seemed strange that they relied on it so heavily in this.
For what they were working with, I would say they got very solid results from the Act Two material...and when you factor in those two lead performances, I don't think you could've found two better people to play these roles at this time.
Will this end up being on my Best of 2025 list? Odds are probably not...but I do suspect I will still revisit both films multiple times.
It’s a product that might not hold up to a lot of scrutiny, but it just works on an emotional level..and sometimes that is enough.
WICKED: FOR GOOD
Rating: 7.5/10
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