Wicked for Good, mostly.

Rating: ★★★★☆

The year-long intermission is finally over, and director Jon M. Chu has returned to finish what he started with Wicked: For Good. If the 2024 predecessor was the candy-colored, effervescent setup, this 2025 conclusion is the emotional payload—a darker, richer, and almost satisfying finale, despite a few pacing wobbles along the Yellow Brick Road.

When Universal announced Wicked would be split into two films, skepticism ran high. Could the second act of the stage show—notoriously more disjointed and rushed than the first—sustain a full feature-length runtime? Wicked: For Good answers that question with a resounding "mostly." By leaning into the political and societal elements of Oz and giving the central friendship room to breathe, Chu delivers a sequel that feels less like a stretched continuation and more like a social commentary for our times, with songs.

The film’s greatest special effect remains the alchemy between its two leads. If Part One was Ariana Grande’s showcase for physical comedy and operatic trills, Part Two belongs to Cynthia Erivo. As Elphaba transitions from hopeful student to the subversive "Wicked Witch," Erivo grounds the fantasy in palpable humanity. Her rendition of "No Good Deed" is not just a vocal feat; it is an acting masterclass, channeling grief and rage into a showstopper that rivals "Defying Gravity."

Grande, meanwhile, skillfully navigates Glinda’s tragic arc. She sheds the bubblegum veneer to reveal a woman trapped in a gilded cage of her own making. The nuance she brings to the "public figure" persona—smiling through grit while her world crumbles—is superb.

The narrative also cleverly weaves in the "backstage" elements of The Wizard of Oz. Seeing the familiar events of Dorothy’s arrival play out from Elphaba’s perspective adds a layer of tragic irony that hits harder on screen than it ever did on stage.

The film does not entirely escape the "Part Two" curse. At nearly two and a half hours, you can feel the strain of expanding a single act of theatre into a blockbuster. There are sequences—specifically involving the subplot with the Cowardly Lion and the extended chase scenes—that feel like padding designed to justify the runtime.

Additionally, while the new songs penned for the film are serviceable, they lack the instant earworm quality of the classic Stephen Schwartz score. They serve the plot, but you likely won't be humming them on the way out of the theatre.

Yet, all minor quibbles evaporate during the film’s climax. The titular duet, "For Good," is staged with such intimacy and grace that there won’t be a dry eye in the house. It is a testament to Chu’s direction that amidst flying monkeys and magical battles, the camera knows to simply linger on the faces of two friends saying goodbye.

Wicked: For Good manages to be grand in scale but intimate in emotion. It justifies the two-part split by giving the story the weight it always deserved. It may take the long way around to get there, but by the time the credits roll, it has undeniably been changed for the better.