Wicked: For Good Movie Review

Wicked: For Good was released on November 21, 2025, almost a year after the first film, which premiered on November 22, 2024. Jon M. Chu directed both movies, which were filmed at Sky Studios Elstree in Borehamwood, England. The most well-known cast members include Ariana Grande as Glinda, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz, and Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero. 

Honestly, there was mixed feeling going into it. It’s clearly a huge movie and it looks great on the big screen, but after seeing the whole thing, the first movie is way better. This one finishes the story okay, but it also felt like it was trying too hard to be “deep” .  My main opinion is that it’s worth watching for the music, but the script has some issues that make it hard to stay focused the whole time. 

The plot is basically exactly what we saw; Elphaba is on the run being “wicked” while Glinda stays in the Emerald City being “good.” It’s supposed to be this big tragic story about how Oz is falling apart, but honestly, the writing felt a little cheesy at times. Like, some of the dialogue between Elphaba and Fiyero was just really uncomfortable and felt like bad fanfiction. It’s definitely darker than the first one, but sometimes it feels dark just for the sake of being edgy.

The acting is still the best thing about it though. Cynthia Erivo’s singing is literally insane, and “No Good Deed” was definitely the highlight of the movie for me. You can really feel her frustration with the Wizard. Ariana Grande was also good, and I liked how she showed that Glinda isn’t as happy as she looks. Their chemistry is still the heart of the movie, even when the script is kind of weak. If they weren’t such good actors, I think the movie would have been a total flop. 

Technically, you can tell they spent a ton of money on this. The sets and the costumes are amazing, and the lighting in the dark forest scenes was really cool and moody. Some of the CGI is just not it. The flying monkeys looked kind of blurry and weirdly out of place compared to the real sets. It kind of ruins the vibe when you have this beautiful practical set and then a weird CGI monkey flying across the screen. 

I think Jon M. Chu did his best, but the pacing was the biggest problem for me. It’s almost three hours long and you can definitely feel it. There are too many subplots that do not really go anywhere, and it felt like they were just trying to fill time to make it two movies instead of one. The theme about propaganda and the Wizard lying to everyone is cool and feels relevant to the story, but they could have made that point in a much shorter movie.

Overall, I’d give it like a 3.5 out of 5 stars. It’s a good conclusion if you are already a fan, but the writing and the length made it a bit of a struggle to get through in one sitting. The music and the leads are great, but the movie definitely has its flaws.