Wicked: For Good
Review: My most anticipated film of 2025. Tears were shed. Notes were belt (not by me because I respect the movie theater environment). And hearts were changed. For good. So now you can enjoy my SPOILER FREE review of ‘Wicked: For Good,’ and if you want to see my thoughts that DO include spoilers, you can scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page. Based on the second act of the beloved Broadway musical, this film features the return of the ensemble from the first film, with a couple minor, but fun, additions. I personally have not seen the original musical, with just a general understanding of the direction the story and character arcs play out, but it seemed to be pretty accurate as far as I know. Some things I really enjoyed was the craft side, with the costuming, hair & makeup, set designs, and special effects all being really solid. While the visual effects aren’t the best ever, they are good and I think they did some cool things with Elphaba’s flying and with the animal characters. I have seen some complaints from folks in regard to the ‘coloring’ which is weird to me. I would tell those people to go watch the movie in Dolby Vision because I thought it looked good.
High: I really struggled with both the high and low for this movie. Because the whole thing happened, I really enjoyed it as a whole, and that was that. So this high will be a little obvious. But the performances, wow. I thought Cynthia Erivo’s performance was even better than her already great initial turn as Elphaba. There was a lot of raw emotion, both positive & negative, that Erivo did a great job. And I mean this with the utmost respect to the actress that I look at Elphaba in these movies and don’t even see Cynthia Erivo. I just see Elphaba. Yes, the green makeup, hair, & costumes help, but her performance is the real reason she disappears into the role. I think Ariana Grande’s performance is on par with her first performance as well, which was actually the one I’d say was the best in the first film. I think Grande will likely take home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and based on the performances I’ve seen this year, I think that would be the right choice. The final performance I’ll touch on as a high is Jonathan Bailey. Fiyero is the character that I think is the most different between the two parts and Bailey managed to do the much more stern and torn Fiyero just as efficiently as he did the careless and fun version.
Low: I dunno man. It’s a lengthy movie at 2 hours and 17 minutes, but they could’ve tacked on another half hour and I would’ve been a happy camper. I guess my low is that I wasn’t able to go see the Wicked & Wicked: For Good double feature. I’m excited for both films to be available for at home watch so my wife and I can binge them.
Rating: 9/10
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- Scroll down for spoiler related thoughts
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- SPOILERS BELOW
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Whenever I do spoiler thoughts like this, I usually just kind of bullet point them instead of doing a blurb.
I really liked the way the movie handled Dorothy and the whole familiar Wizard of Oz portion.
I think it was really funny to get an actor like Colman Domingo to voice the Lion and have him listed as ‘Starring’ for him to literally do one singular scene’s worth of line reads.
I wonder how many of Jeff Goldblum’s lines are unscripted and just his own personal interjections.
Michelle Yeoh’s performance is one of the weaker ones in the film.
If the film was a little longer, I would’ve liked spending more time with pre-Tin Man Boq. Ethan Slater is cool in the role and the Tin Man design looked good.
The Scarecrow design did not look good. Especially when we got the close up at the end.
Chistery getting his line in (from the legendary Dee Bradley Baker) was a good moment.
I’m glad we got closure on Dr. Dillamond. I was worried he was going to end up dead or as a non-speaking goat. That single frame really picked up my spirits.
I also liked that we got some moments with Dulcibear and also a shot of her at the end.
My wife & I were discussing the ending of the musical prior to the film and I told her I was really nervous because an Elphaba-Fiyero ending made me feel as though it was going to be focusing too much on the romance of them when the friendship of Elphaba-Glinda is the actual important relationship in the story. After watching it, the ending makes me incredibly sad, but I do still think it was more about Elphaba and Glinda. So I rescind that comment that none of you knew I made prior to me telling you just know.
Expect more Wicked. Maybe not with these characters or actors, but Universal is not going to let this franchise end with how lucrative it is for them. I doubt a sequel, but I assume a spinoff or series is looming.
The songs were all bops and I think Erivo will win an Oscar for her writing credit on ‘No Place Like Home,’ completing her EGOT (what a legend).
If you were curious, I did cry. During ‘For Good.’ Duh. I’m not a monster.
Jonathan Bailey really is the sexiest man alive. And on that note, my review is concluded.
