Let’s be honest: Wicked: For Good bursts onto the screen with so much glitter, hype, and emerald-tinted grandeur that you half expect Oz itself to pop up and demand a standing ovation. It’s big, it’s emotional, it’s expensive… and it still can’t quite outrun the fact that Part 1 already stole the show and left Part 2 rummaging for scraps of leftover magic.
Ariana and Cynthia Are a Revelation in Wicked: For Good
But let’s talk about the film’s real salvation: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who don’t just carry this movie, they drag it across the finish line in heels. Grande, freed from the “is she acting or just being Glinda?” discourse of Part 1, finally shows up with substance. Her Glinda is more wounded, more layered, and occasionally even more ruthless, like a wounded women who discoThe film also has a curious tonal balance. There is genuine darkness in Elphaba’s journey, particularly in No Good Deed, yet the movie also flits between campy humour and candy-coloured whimsy in a way that can feel jarring. Part of that comes from the stage musical’s energy, but it leaves you thinking could this have been just a touch tighter? Erivo, meanwhile, is so astonishingly good that the film seems embarrassed it can’t match her intensity. Every glare is a thesis; every note is a therapy session; every breath is a reminder that Oscar campaigns exist for a reason.
And let us not forget the small joys. Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard continues to be delightfully slippery, while Michelle Yeoh brings quiet charm as Madame Morrible. They may not dominate the narrative, but their presence gives the world some much-needed weight.
And then there’s the music. “Fine,” “nice,” “pleasant,” and “it’ll do” are all perfectly acceptable adjectives for most of it. But “No Good Deed”? That’s where the movie remembers it’s supposed to be iconic. Erivo tears into that number like she’s trying to burn the screen down from the inside, and honestly, let her. It’s the only moment that reaches the level of operatic fury the rest of the sequel tiptoes around. If the entire film had that energy, we’d be talking “instant classic” instead of “solid closer.”
The visual spectacle is undeniable. From the shimmering streets of the Emerald City to the tulip fields of Munchkinland, every frame is packed with detail. Costume, production design and CGI all work together to make Oz feel like a living, breathing place. It is the kind of film you need to watch on a big screen so you can actually drink it in.
Unfortunately, Wicked: For Good has homework to finish. All the obligatory origin-story patch jobs, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, feel less like revelations and more like someone checking boxes labelled “yes, we know the fans want this.” The narrative tries so hard to explain every corner of Oz that you wish it would just stop talking and let the magic be mysterious, the way it once was before everything needed a backstory and a franchise tie-in.
Visually, the film is sumptuous, occasionally breathtaking, and sometimes just aggressively green. Sentiment runs high, subtlety runs low, and yet it somehow works, most of the time. The emotional payoff is there. The spectacle is there. Grande and Erivo are so there it’s almost rude.
But let’s be real: it’s a good sequel, not a great one. It closes loops, hits the expected emotional beats, and sends Elphaba off with the showstopper she, and frankly we, deserve. What it doesn’t do is match the spellbinding rhythm of Part 1, which was leaner, cleaner, and much less weighed down by the need to untangle the plot.
If Part 1 flew, Part 2… glides. Gracefully. Occasionally impressively. But never quite high enough to escape the gravity of its own expectations.
Wicked: For Good Wicked: For Good Wicked: For Good The film also has a curious tonal balance. There is genuine darkness in Elphaba’s journey, particularly in No Good Deed, yet the movie also flits between campy humour and candy-coloured whimsy in a way that can feel jarring. Part of that comes from the stage musical’s energy, but it leaves you thinking could this have been just a touch tighter. Wicked: For Good Wicked: For Good Wicked: For Good
