Wicked for Good is a sequel to the movie Wicked, based on the renowned Broadway play. Wicked for Good came to theaters on November 21, 2025, and has recently been making its mark across the United States.
The movie featured Cynthia Erivo as the main character, Elphaba. In the first movie, Elphaba is green and treated as an outcast in the World of Oz, and the other characters. However, she is sent to school with her paraplegic sister, Nessa, and meets a stereotypically popular girl named Gulinda. Gulinda is played by Ariana Grande, and she is seen as a perfect girl who has done no wrong. She later changes her name from Gulinda to Glinda.
The movie is a musical, and it has amazing songs. My personal favorite was “As Long As You’re Mine”, a passionate duet between Elphaba and Fiyero. Some online have stated it was silly with how they were singing a love song in separate rooms, but I loved how they were in separate rooms when Elphaba sings her part on how she feels inside.
The movie had great visuals, although at the end, a particular scene with Jeff Goldblum, who plays the Oz, was noted as having scary CGI. The person was a de-aged Jeff Goldblum, and although the scene was only a few seconds, possibly one or two, it was still noticeable and uncanny.
The music in the movie had heavy orchestral and instrumental elements that bellowed underneath the singing. In one song, “No Good Deed,” Cynthia Erivo provides an astonishing riff with heavy crashing and dramatic flare of instruments behind her. It added to the emotion Elphaba was portraying during that moment.
A soul-crushing scene in the movie, however, was that in the end, Cynthia and Ariana were singing goodbye to one another for reasons. They were on opposite sides of the same door, and began to cry because of the platonic connection they felt for one another. That scene brought many people in theaters to tears, as the actors admitted later in an interview that the scene was actually improved because the director never called cut.
A junior at Roosevelt High School named Tori Hashimoto said, “I loved the scene with the song ‘For Good’ because of how emotional it was and beautiful. I also loved the scene where she sings to all the animals and tries to encourage them.”
In an interview on the podcast “Shut up Evan”, Ariana Grande herself stated about the “For Good” scene, “It was one of the most beautiful and connected moments in both of the movies. I’m so grateful that it’s there.”
Overall, the movie could be rated an eight out of ten stars personally. The movie was long, but it was moving much quicker than the first movie was, and still managed to capture attention. There was heartbreaking music and lots of music that made you want to dance as well. The movie also holds underlying messages about real-world problems, which can be interpreted to how you wish to view it.
