Wicked: For Good Is Sadly Not for the Better

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If you enjoyed the first Wicked movie—the beginning of Jon M. Chu’s two-part adaptation of the popular Broadway show—you’ll find Wicked: For Good is very similar. The same is true if you didn’t like it. Expect the same strange combination of overly bright and faded colors, the same bland music, and the same heavy-handed life lessons delivered so quickly and without much thought that they become confusing. Wicked was so popular that this sequel already has a built-in audience. But if you have the option to skip it, consider yourself fortunate. Life is too short for uninspired fan fiction like Wicked: For Good, a lavish film that doesn’t live up to its own sense of creativity.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande reprise their roles as Elphaba, the green-skinned outcast, and Glinda, the effortlessly popular blonde. After discovering she’s being manipulated by the deceitful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) and his assistant, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), Elphaba has disappeared. Glinda and her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey), have no idea where she’s gone. Glinda assumes Elphaba doesn’t want to be found and promptly announces their engagement to Fiyero—a surprise to him, as he still has feelings for Elphaba, but he gives in easily. Glinda always gets what she wants with a little charm.

Elphaba, now in exile, desperately tries to expose the Wizard as a fake and free the animals he’s enslaved. However, Madame Morrible consistently twists things to make Elphaba appear responsible for every problem in Oz. Even when Elphaba attempts to write a message in the sky revealing the Wizard’s deceit, Morrible magically alters it to say “Oz dies.” Despite constantly striving to do what’s right with her magic, Elphaba receives no recognition, while Glinda takes all the praise and attention.

Why isn’t Wicked: For Good working? Some might even say it’s worse than the first movie. The original story, based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked, explored interesting ideas – ideas that themselves came from the wonderful world L. Frank Baum created in his books around 1900, and the beloved 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The central message of Wicked – that no one is purely good or bad, and that perceived flaws are often just misunderstandings – isn’t a bad one. However, if the story had been streamlined into a shorter, two-and-a-half-hour movie, it could have been more exciting and less tiring.

These two movies together feel overly long and drawn out, preventing them from ever really soaring. The music in Wicked: For Good is surprisingly bland and aimless, making even the songs from the first movie – which weren’t great to begin with – seem enjoyable by comparison. While Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are both perfectly suited for their roles and incredibly talented singers, the weak songs don’t give them much to work with. The movie tries to deliver important messages – like respecting animals, questioning motives for good deeds, and addressing unfair advantages – but it does so in a chaotic and confusing way. By the end, it’s unclear what the movie is even trying to say.

Okay, so it has a few funny moments – like, there’s this scene where they’re about to… well, you know, and one of the characters is wearing this incredibly awkward, fuzzy gray robe! Seriously, it looked like it was made from the cheapest yarn imaginable – definitely the strangest outfit I’ve ever seen in a movie’s attempt at romance. But honestly, the movie is mostly just a bunch of jokes that don’t really land. I have a feeling Wicked: For Good will be popular, and people will defend it – saying it teaches good lessons, or that they loved the musical when they were kids and now their kids love the movie, or that it made them cry. And that’s totally fine! Everyone gets something different out of movies. But I just wish we, as moviegoers, demanded a little more, especially around the holidays. Why accept something just okay when we deserve something truly great?

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2025-11-20 19:06