In the emerald haze of Oz’s ever-expanding lore, Director Jon M. Chu, picking up the glittering threads from last year’s blockbuster, delivers the second act of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s Broadway phenomenon ‘Wicked For Good’. Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba, now fully embraced as the maligned Wicked Witch of the West, and Ariana Grande’s Glinda, ascending to her throne of performative goodness, clash in a tale of fractured friendship amid rising tyranny. What begins as a celebration of Oz’s false prosperity spirals into a reckoning, weaving the witches’ destinies toward Dorothy’s cyclone arrival. This sequel doesn’t just conclude the duology; it redefines it, proving that sometimes the storm after the sparkle hits hardest.
Erivo’s portrayal of Elphaba has always been a force of nature, but in “For Good,” she unleashes a tempest of vulnerability that cements her as the heart of Oz. Exiled and hunted, her green-skinned rebel fights not for power but for the silenced voices of talking animals. Erivo’s Oscar trajectory, already blazing from the first film, accelerates here; her Elphaba isn’t just misunderstood, she’s a tragic architect of her own legend, her every belt a defiant roar against a world that fears difference.
Grande, meanwhile, steps out of Glinda’s bubbly shadow to claim the spotlight with a revelation. Where Part One painted her as the pink-clad angel, “For Good” reveals the steel beneath the sparkle, as Glinda navigates the intoxicating perils of fame and the Wizard’s manipulative court. Grande’s emotional range—playful one moment, shatteringly introspective the next—transforms Glinda from sidekick to co-protagonist, her maturity anchoring the film’s core. It’s Grande’s film as much as Erivo’s, a duet of divas that harmonizes pop precision with theatrical grandeur.
Musically, “For Good” trades the first film’s addictive anthems for introspective gut-punches, and the shift pays dividends. While it lacks a singular showstopper like “Defying Gravity,” the score’s architecture shines brighter in this darker chapter.
Visually, Chu and cinematographer Alice Brooks conjure an Oz that’s epically immersive. Costumes by Paul Tazewell evolve with the characters: Elphaba’s cloaks harden into armor, Glinda’s gowns from confection to corseted constraint. Practical sets dominate, with minimal CGI, it’s a feast for the eyes, bolder in palette and more ambitious in scope than its predecessor, turning every frame into a portal of wonder.
‘Wicked: For Good’ is not just better than the first—it’s essential, a sequel that soars on wings of empathy and spectacle. Wickeds and Oz newbies alike will emerge changed, humming “For Good” as a mantra for our divided times. Fly to theaters now; this witch’s tale deserves its eternal encore.
