Wicked: For Good (2025)

My Review

“Wicked: For Good” is part two of the musical “Wicked” (2024), the story of Elphaba and Glinda. Director John M. Chu (“Wicked” 2024) continues this mediocre interpretation of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) from the poorly written screenplay by Winnie Holtzman and Dana Fox. It was adapted from the 2003 musical stage play by Stephen Schwartz and Holtzman, featuring its bland and unmemorable songs and score, and from the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, a reimagining of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 MGM classic film.

The cast is headed by Ariana Grande as Galinda Upland and Cynthia Envo as Elphaba Thropp. Both turn in shallow and sophomoric performances. Co-stars include Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz, Michelle Yeoh as his press secretary, Bethany Weaver as Dorothy Gale, Colman Domingo as the Cowardly Lion, Ethan Slater as the Tin Man, and Jonathan Bailey as the Scarecrow. Despite being an unwatchable woke version of a great American classic movie, “Wicked: For Good” was successful at the box office for Marc Platt Productions and Universal Pictures.