Wicked (2024) covered Act I of the Broadway musical, and I called it a worthy adaptation. After the longest intermission of my life — a year collecting merch and hyping myself up with the TV special Wicked: One Wonderful Night (2025) — my review for Wicked: For Good (2025) is finally here.
Oz knows how long I’ve been driving my co-workers mad with talk about writing this. A few disclaimers first. No, I wasn’t cursed with this unadulterated love for musicals; no, I didn’t consume anything exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe that might cloud my judgement; and yes, I was indeed born a Wicked fan — which is why I’ve always known of Act II’s long-standing issues.
When we left off, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) was on the run, and Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) was stepping into power. But as we return to them, the story struggles to find its momentum. There’s a goal, yet it floats in the ether because Elphaba lacks a concrete plan. She’s lost, and so are we. The introduction drags and still feels somewhat incomplete, with unaddressed plot holes and murky causality that slow the pacing — flaws that have persisted for over 20 years.
The team behind this adaptation has been so respectful of the source material that it’s no surprise the film inherits the musical’s structural problems. Part of me wishes that director Jon M. Chu had taken bolder swings in reshaping Act II. I love this story; it’s close to my heart, but I’m also perfectly aware of the places where it could have evolved, and didn’t. Alas, I suppose no good deed goes unpunished.
Two decades later, audiences are ready for more modern storytelling, and a most meaningful change would’ve been dropping the Elphaba–Fiyero romance to centre Elphaba and Glinda even further. Gelphie bias aside, their bond already reads as a love story — two people raised worlds apart who grow toward each other through quiet devotion and hard-won understanding. In a more progressive landscape, it could’ve been the greatest queer romance ever — instead, we get a bland male lead delivering cheesy, outdated lines.
The new songs are strong additions. “The Girl in the Bubble” has made the biggest noise, but “No Place Like Home” is arguably the one the story needed most — so where’s its love? I’ll spare the full lecture, but Act II didn’t need two extra solo ballads, and putting “No Place Like Home” in the extended intro wastes its potential. Reimagined as an ensemble woven into Nessa’s (Marissa Bode) and Boq’s (Ethan Slater) arc, could’ve made it more dynamic and deepened the emotional stakes.
Still, the lyrics are beautiful, resonating painfully with the realities of communities being displaced, judged, and denied the rights they’ve fought for. The idea of building a home only to be rejected by your neighbours cuts straight into my immigrant soul, and I encourage everyone to give it a listen.
The film starts slow, but the payoff is worth it. Many elements have been strengthened, even offering solutions to some of its deep-rooted issues. Glinda’s expanded backstory and her involvement in “Wonderful” add depth and empathy, ultimately elevating the climactic, heart-wrenching conclusion.
The movie glows the most emerald when our favourite witches share the screen. Erivo and Grande-Butera deliver two of the year’s strongest performances. Seriously, what more do these extraordinary women need to do to earn those Oscars?
The sound editing, mixing, and score are top-tier. The musical alterations work, and the way both leads make the songs their own left a handprint on my heart.
Not to spoil anything, but I’ve seen this movie five times in different formats, and the double?feature in IMAX is the way to go — also, yes, I cried every single time.
Many wrote off Wicked (2024) as “incomplete,” and fair enough — it was only part one. Some are already treating the second film the same way, forgetting that it’s only the other half of the story. With both films finally side by side, this is it, the full Wicked adaptation. And what a transcendent one it turned out to be.
Wicked has always been my steady source of comfort; the promised adaptation was the anchor I held onto when things felt unstable. Now, I’m left with the stillness and gentle whisper of a dream fulfilled. What comes after? Perhaps, for this clock tick, it’s the desire to find my next Wicked — with the joy of knowing I can return to this thrillifying story whenever I need to, and so can you.
