‘Wicked: For Good’ Review – A Decently Charming Return To The Land Of Oz

Warning: There are light spoilers for newcomers to the source material below. 

Once upon a time (roughly a decade ago), split films were all the rage. Depending on your level of cynicism, movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay were split into multiple parts to either let narrative threads breathe more comfortably or bilk an additional hundreds of millions of dollars from rabid audiences. The trend had waned in recent years until Jon M. Chu announced in April of 2022 that his adaptation of Wicked would be split in half to avoid “doing real damage to it.” And so, “Defying Gravity” became the proverbial fork in the road for the story of the future witches of Oz, leaving audiences, who pushed Wicked to a $758 million worldwide box office gross and 10 Oscar nominations, waiting a year to see if Chu’s efforts of preservation paid off.

At first blush, landing back on the yellow brick road with Wicked: For Good is pretty easy. Chu plops us right back into the land of Oz, where brutally treated animals are constructing the famous roadway. Coming to the animals’ rescue is Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) in her flowing black “froat” and broomstick, well into her forced tenure as the Wicked Witch. Elphaba is on a one-woman crusade to expose the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) as a fraud with no powers. That crusade is made nearly impossible by the treacherous Madam Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), who has successfully convinced Ozians that Elphaba is a catastrophic evil. Her unwitting accomplices are Glinda (Ariana Grande) and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), who have since become engaged. They know the truth about Elphaba, but have differing approaches to reconciling it. Fiyero is determined to discreetly clear Elphaba’s name, while Glinda is most concerned with keeping up appearances.

The fraught dynamic between Elphaba, Glinda, and Fiyero is For Good at its most compelling and resonant, with tangible stakes that the trio really sinks their teeth into. At the core of this triangle are perception and reality, and the gaps between them. With Glinda’s perspective shaping more of this film, we see up close how deeply she values Ozians’ perception of her, and how empty it feels amid Fiyero’s polite disinterest and her own lack of magical abilities. That conflict is beautifully conveyed through the deeply affecting “Thank Goodness/I Couldn’t Be Happier” musical number. On the other side stand Fiyero and Elphaba, who generate tender chemistry as they come to grips with their mutual attraction via the nighttime “As Long as You’re Mine.”

Because of Wicked’s strong foundation, it’s easy for Elphaba, Glinda, and Fiyero’s emotional cyclone to land, especially when it avoids clichés in favor of empathy-driven nuance. When John M. Chu leans into some cliches, it’s from a tongue-in-cheek perspective that acknowledges and embraces silliness. Another standout sequence is Glinda and Elphaba’s “The Boy is Mine”-inspired wandfight, with jumbled fabrics and petty mockery. Chu’s frenetic framing — filled with silly, sweeping cuts between the two witches — makes it clear that everyone knows the fight is beneath them, which makes it so much fun. It’s also grounded in the pair’s deep connection, filtered through Glinda’s embarrassment at Fiyero jilting her, and Elphaba’s belief that Glinda betrayed her. That strong narrative connective tissue holds the film together across the varied tones of their scenes.

Unfortunately, For Good explores more than Elphaba and Glinda’s fragile but potent relationship, and the film ultimately struggles because of it. Although the two witches’ arcs feel mostly fleshed out, the other characters are left bafflingly flat. The worst among them are Nessa (Marissa Bode) and Boq (Ethan Slater), who are trapped in a metaphorical prison of Nessa’s making. Clearly, a significant amount of time has passed since their days at Shiz, but we get little insight into Nessa’s character change beyond empty exposition about her father’s death and Elphaba’s refusal to visit her. It’s surprising since, even with Boq loving Glinda, he and Nessa had a sweet bond, and seeing how that curdled would’ve been helpful. (Then again, considering how off-putting their scenes are, perhaps not.) Others similarly lose their dimension, with the Wizard largely serving as alcoholic comic relief and Madame Morrible as the exasperated true villain.

The characters’ flimsiness bleeds into For Good’s script and direction as well. It often feels like key pieces of the story are either missing or glossed over, robbing some key moments of their power. “No Good Deed” is meant to be the film’s volcanic musical number, but Chu’s insistence on breaking in and out of the song undercuts Cynthia Erivo’s fiery performance. Not to harp on Nessa, but her becoming and dying as the Wicked Witch of the East feels coincidental instead of The Wizard of Oz’s inciting incident. Relatively enjoyable numbers, like the “Be Our Guest”-inspired “Wonderful,” also suffer from serious tonal whiplash. (It’s weird seeing Elphaba laughing with the Wizard after he implicates her in war crimes and she denounces him as a liar.)  “For Good,” the film’s showstopper, feels surprisingly muted due to an amalgamation of these issues.

(Worth noting: while Wicked had its fair share of callbacks and references to The Wizard of Oz, this film’s references feel distractingly transparent, in a way that distracts the overall narrative, most glaringly “For Good.”)

For Good’s storytelling issues would’ve been a greater issue if Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo weren’t as strong as they are. With Glinda as this film’s focal point, Ariana Grande absolutely rises to the increased attention. She demonstrates a strong command of Glinda as a bulletproof comic character while broadening her scope with moments of searing heartbreak, subtle anger, and indignation. “I Couldn’t Be Happier,” with Grande communicating beautifully restrained uncertainty and pain through her facial expressions, is her best work in the franchise after “Popular.” While she isn’t necessarily driving the story this time around, Cynthia Erivo retains her powerful screen presence and voice as Elphaba works on the periphery to speak truth to the Wizard’s power. The supporting cast does well with their limited material, with Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Bailey standing out with strong moments of shameless villainy and gentle ardor, respectively.

On one hand, there is something brave about Jon M Chu fighting to retain as much of Wicked’s original material as possible. However, I can’t say that the split fully pays off, at least for Wicked: For Good. There are glimmers of brilliance, particularly when it focuses on the most narratively rich characters. Sadly, the other characters and narrative threads simply don’t measure up, leaving them feeling extraneous at best and prohibitive to the film at worst. The film largely falls into the former, making for a decently charming experience, perhaps more fulfilling if you’re familiar with the Broadway play and Gregory Maguire’s novel. Still, I can’t help missing the dizzying heights that Wicked reached, and wondering if a re-edited, four-hour version, tying in the best of For Good, would reach them.

Wicked: For Good will debut exclusively in theaters on November 21, 2025, courtesy of  Universal.