Wicked: for Good
With Glinda (Ariana Grande) corrupted by the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), covering up their agenda as Oz's ideal of all that is good, Elphaba (Cynthia Eviro) hides in the forest, still fighting for the freedom of Oz's silenced animals as she is branded "Wicked: for Good."
Laura's Review: A
The "Wicked" team of director Jon M. Chu, screenwriters Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox, cinematographer Alice Brooks, editor Myron Kerstein, composers John Powell and Stephen Schwartz (who also wrote the songs), production designer Nathan Crowley and costume designer Paul Tazewell all return for the big finale of the cinematic version of the Broadway musical and it will not only delight fans of the first part, but carries a very timely political message. For those of us who never saw the Broadway production or read Maguire's novel, it is impressive how this new perspective on Baum's classic weaves itself into his story, with origin tales for all of Dorothy Gale's (Bethany Weaver) Ozian companions. And with Glinda and Elphaba at extreme ends of the political scale at the end of "Wicked," a way is found to set things right as each maintains her own path forward.
Chu wastes no time illustrating the fascism which has taken hold of Oz, chained, horned, ox-like beasts forced into the slave labor required to build a yellow brick road, whipped and mistreated by the Wizard's guards. Until, that is, a familiar figure appears in the sky, freeing the animals and leaving the Wizard's soldiers wallowing in mud and yellow paint. Back in Emerald City, Morrible is grooming Glinda as 'Glinda the Good' while casting her former star pupil as the Wicked Witch, gifting Glinda with a pink bubble mode of transport that will 'hide her deficiency.' Just as Glinda's engagement to Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) is publicly announced, to his obvious surprise, Elphaba arrives to skywrite 'Our Wizard Lies to Oz,' a message Morrible quickly changes to 'Oz Dies.' But Glinda still holds out hope that her friend can be brought back into the fold, almost accomplished when the Wizard agrees to free the winged monkeys he's been using as spies, but those hopes are dashed when their leader, Chistery, shows Elphaba a secret passage to a dungeon full of caged, chained creatures, Professor Dillamond among them, the scene made more effective by being crosscut with Glinda walking down a butterfly aisle towards her Prince, darkness and light.
There are multiple confrontations after lines are drawn, Boq (Ethan Slater) disenchanted with Munchkin Governor Thorpe, Elphaba's sister Nessa (Marissa Bode) when she restricts travel, afraid to upset the apple cart; Elphaba's old nanny Dulcibear unable to be persuaded to stay and fight; but the biggest occurs after Morrible's conjured tornado causes a house to land on Nessa and Glinda gives her shoes to a visitor from Kansas instead of returning them to Elphaba. That Fiyero, arrived with the guards purportedly to take the Wicked, instead chooses her over Glinda only makes the rift cut deeper.
If anything, "Wicked: For Good" brings more emotion than its predecessor, numbers like 'There's No Place Like Home,' handily reversed to refer to Oz, and the operatic 'No Good Deed,' both sung by Eviro, raising goosebumps. The production is stunning, more divided between the Emerald City and its darker counterparts, the Wizard's predilection for the color green given deeper meaning. Eviro and Grande are both perfect in their roles, Grande exhibiting an impressive talent for wand twirling. Bailey, Slater, Goldblum and especially Yeoh, the true Wicked Witch ('these things must be done delicately'), all get more to chew on here than they did in the first outing, Bailey even enjoying a tasteful sex scene with Eviro. Costume designer Tazewell outdoes himself here, Grande and Yeoh's outfits seeming even more architecturally elaborate while special effects bring fantastical animals to life, The Cowardly Lion (voice of Colman Domingo) positively skittish. Make-up effects impress as well, characters we know transformed into both the Tin Man and Scarecrow.
"Wicked: For Good" is destined to be a blockbuster and deservedly so. This is a commercial film made by a team operating at their peaks.
Universal Pictures releases "Wicked: for Good" in theaters on 11/21/25.
