Opening the curtains of the “Wonderful” Act 2 

In Wicked: Part 1, viewers were introduced to the bright and colorful flower fields of Munchkin land. Fans got to see only the first part of a beautiful and complex story.  Now with the introduction of Wicked: For Good (2025), fans get brought back to the colorful fields of Oz  to see the second half of this wonderful story and how it ends.  When, in an interview with Apple Music, Cynthia Erivo said, “even when your paths don’t end together, that you still can keep uh love there, that you can still hold on to one another and that and you can grow apart, but you’ll still grow together,” she really captured what the film is all about.

 This movie is considered Act 2 of the original Broadway musical. And like the original, the movie follows along with the musical’s narrative. Also directed by Jon M. Chu, Wicked: For Good’s expectations are set high as the first movie has won a multitude of awards as seen on their IMDb.

I bought tickets for the 1 p.m. showing at Charlottesville’s Stonefield Theater. Walking into the theater, it was fairly empty, so if you want to avoid the crowds, I’d suggest going earlier in the day. 

As the movie begins, we’re dropped five years or “12 time turns” after the first movie and are met with the construction of the famous yellow-brick road. This is when we get to see Elphaba in action for the first time since “Defying Gravity” in the first movie. 

All of the original songs of Act 2 are in the movie: “Every Day More Wicked,” “Thank Goodness/ I Couldn’t Be Happier,” “The Wicked Witch of the East,” “Wonderful,” “I’m Not That Girl (Reprise),” “As Long As Your Mine,” “No Good Deed,” “March Of The Witch Hunters,” “For Good,” and “Finale: For Good (Reprise)”. Chu decided to add two new songs to the movie:  “No Place Like Home,” which is sung by Elphaba, and “The Girl in the Bubble,” which takes a deeper look into Glinda’s perspective and her character. However, I noticed there were some songs from the musical that were composed a little differently in the movie. I personally was not a big fan of these changes, but I can see why the changes were made. For example, the song “As Long As Your Mine” is sung not as strongly as it is in the musical.

While Wicked: For Good takes place in time with The Wizard of Oz, the characters well-known in the film take a back seat to the stars of the previous movie in favor of keeping the story focused on Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship and inevitable fall. Returning actors such as Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), Ariana Grande (Glinda), Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero), Jeff Goldblum (The Wizard), Marissa Bode (Nessarose), and Ethan Slater (Boq) take on their original roles. The acting in this movie was taken to the next level. The actors portrayed their characters so well down to the littlest details, both vocally and physically. 

Warning, the next paragraph may contain spoilers for people who haven’t seen the musical. While the focus is on the characters of Wicked, I thought the way Chu intertwined characters from both stories was perfect. With Glinda and Elphaba being the forefront of this story, I like how Chu decided to make Dorothy remain faceless throughout the entire movie. Her being faceless lessens the attention on her and more of the characters of the story Wicked while still incorporating the original Wizard of Oz plot. My favorite instance of this was during the song “March Of The Witch Hunters,” where they combine the song with the original Wizard of Oz plot of Dorothy going to kill the witch. What especially stood out to me was Slater’s (Boq) performance in the song. I thought it was brilliant, the strong emotions really bringing the character to life on the screen. Another song I really enjoyed was the iconic “For Good” duet with Elphaba and Glinda. I really felt the sadness portrayed by both characters, and I admit I did cry during this song. This song was just a beautiful portrayal of friendship. Grande describes filming this song as an outer body experience and the song itself a “really connected moment” for the characters in the same Apple Music interview mentioned above. 

For viewers who are not familiar with the musical, there were many twists, turns, and surprises. There were details from the musical that movie-only fans wouldn’t know beforehand. In that case, I think the movie did a good job with revealing said twists where movie fans were surprised and musical fans were watching out for. 

I appreciated and enjoyed all the things that went into creating the movie, such as the costuming, the set designs, and the make-up. I especially liked how these factors really show the time passed between movies even though they were filmed at the same time. The time and effort really shows the commitment Chu has for these films to be similar to the musical’s narrative. 

This was a perfect example of a sequel movie. And “I have been changed for good.”