Wicked: For Good

Wicked became as popular a film as it did a stage musical, with its 2024 cinematic adaptation headed by Universal and directed by Jon M. Chu, smashing box office records, receiving strong praise from avid fans and complete newcomers, and created a fresh viewing experience for all audiences by taking from both the Winnie Holzman musical as well as th3 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, while still providing an unforgettably theatrical experience through a booming score and soundtrack, colorful environments, and stellar performances by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as the iconic leads. In a move not often seen for most musical adaptations, Wicked was split into two parts to expand upon the second half of the stage play (which told a reimagined take of L Frank Baum’s 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), and while this was initially met with hesitation, the trailers gave people more faith in the vision, even if the film’s eventual release wasn’t as spotless as its predecessor.

After being villainized by The Wizard of Oz (played again by Jeff Goldblum) for discovering his true nature, Elphaba (played again by Cynthia Erivo) continues her crusade to free the now mute animal civilization but must do it alone since the entirety of Oz’s population believe the lies spun by Madame Morrible (played again by Michelle Yeoh), making her public enemy number one. As this is going on, Glinda (played again by Ariana Grande) has become a spokesperson for the Wizard and, despite knowing the truth, adores the status enough to live in blissful denial, even if Elphaba’s goal means crushing that façade. As the two clash over how to deal with this corrupt regime, things shift in a new direction when a young girl named Dorothy appears from a faraway land called Kansas, setting up a course of events that are sure to end in tragedy.

Wicked: For Good  may’ve followed in the steps of its predecessor by breaking box office records and winning public approval but differed in their critical response as this sequel received more of a mixed reception, and that assessment isn’t entirely unfounded. While containing a lot of the same pros as the first, the faults of the source material plague this adaptation, with rushed pacing, constantly shifting character motivations, and a narrative so suffocated by another plotline that it can’t efficiently conclude its own.

While the first film was criticized for its pacing and length, most felt it utilized the strengths of both stage and cinema to effectively bring this iconic musical to life, and separating the story into two films would allow more time to flesh out previously rushed elements. However, the second part of Wicked has never been liked in any medium, viewed as less engaging than the first half and struggles with weaker songs, not-as-interesting character dynamics, and a story that tries to combine its own content with that of the original L. Frank Baum book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which proves highly detrimental. While the screenplay written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox does expand upon a few unresolved elements, it isn’t enough to truly rectify the core issue with this section, as while the first portion of Wicked was self-contained and went at its own pace, part 2 constantly feels pressured to link up with a separate story that’s completely different in tone and presentation to its own.

The core ingredients don’t feel lessened, but because the source material isn’t structured to make the themes, arcs, and story developments feel earned or effectively concluded, it’s hard to fully invest in the unfolding events. No scene has time to breathe and has to continually rush from plot point to plot point, the sporadic jumps-in-time mean motivations change on a dime, the drastic switch in tone is a consequence of no longer being the second act of a lighter opener but instead its own entity, and even though the emotions are still felt and the ending still resonates, it feels weaker than the first due to the story not being as tight or focused.

Elphaba and Glinda are great characters, and they were brought to life wonderfully by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, so they are unsurprisingly the best parts of this sequel, even if they are hindered by the lessened script and story. While both have interesting avenues to go down (with Elphaba being a freedom fighter turned into a villain by corrupt rulers, and Glinda forced to grapple with her hollow identity when used as a glittery prop for this regime), the brisk pacing and frequently altered narrative prevents time to dissect these roles, and when combined with being forced down an expected route once Dorothy arrives, they feel constricted on what they can do and how they react. Erivo still brings such raw emotion to all of her scenes, and Grande adds some needed levity to a much darker experience, but it’s not offering anything new.

While the leads can survive the messier story, the supporting cast aren’t so lucky, barely contributing outside of briefly wrapping up their previous arcs and being forcefully inserted into this shared story in a way that makes very little sense and even feels a little desperate. Jeff Goldblum has more screentime yet strangely feels less interesting, Michelle Yeoh still has an intimidating presence, but contributes so little to the overall story that she’s easy to forget about, Marissa Bode and Ethan Slater continue to act their parts well and even conclude their stories in a memorable fashion, yet aren’t delved into enough to be as deep as they could’ve be, and Jonathan Bailey is still very charismatic but is nothing more than a love interest, and therefore doesn’t offer much. The first movie knew how to use its support to elevate its story and leads, whereas here they just fill time and space.

Since the characters and story aren’t as captivating, the production value and overall visual design also feels less impressive, even though nothing has really changed. The lack of anything new may be one of the underlying problems, with most of the same locations and sets by production designer, Nathan Crowley, being reused for several scenes which, while still technically impressive and visually admirable, don’t feel as wow-worthy the second time around, and that mixed with the much darker lighting and color palette as well as most of the film taking place in dilapidated castles and ravaged forests, doesn’t offer much new to marvel at (except for a choice few prosthetic effects handled by Mark Coulier, which all looks pretty great). The costumes by Paul Tazwell are still very nice and lavish, the sets are still very detailed and nice to walk around in, there’s occasionally some nice camera work and editing by Alice Brooks and Myron Kerstein, and the visual effects are still in a comfortable middle ground of not looking realistic, but never coming across as distracting, so even if not as effective, nothing has been worsened.

The songs during the second half of the musical were criticized for not having the same impact as the first, and while this doesn’t have to be a dealbreaker for this sequel, you can feel that problem still persisting. Some do leave their mark, like No Good Deed is fantastically cinematic, and the titular song, For Good, is wonderfully bittersweet and is carried by the fantastic chemistry between the two leads, but the others (while well sung and occasionally tapping into some fun imagery) aren’t given the same sense of purpose. John Powell’s score doesn’t hit as strong nor elevate the songs as successfully this time around, and the two new numbers written by Stephen Schwartz are well positioned in the story and are perfectly acceptable but aren’t very memorable due to their short length.

Wicked: For Good  doesn’t struggle because of its own shortcomings, but rather the faults of its originator, as it carries the same tonal, pacing and narrative issues as its original musical and novel, except the longer running time and literal extra movie means its failure to remedy these problems is more noticeable. While lesser by comparison, the strengths of this creative team are still good enough to result in a nice experience that still dabbles in the great. The performances are still good (especially Erivo and Grande who never faltered), the visuals (even if not as eye-catching) are still bright, popping and on occasion can feel very cinematic, and while the story doesn’t flow as well, the characters lack meaningful conclusions, and the involvement of the Wizard of Oz storyline arguably does more harm than good, it still has enough sentimentality and creativity, to defy even the worst odds.