{"id":32380,"date":"2025-11-22T00:13:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T05:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380"},"modified":"2025-11-22T00:14:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T05:14:41","slug":"wicked-for-good-review-a-flawed-but-brave-detour-from-the-first-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Wicked: For Good&#8221; Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>@Courtesy of Universal Pictures<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the stunning and entirely deserved success of <strong>Wicked<\/strong> in 2024 (474 million dollars earned ad the US boxoffice, 755 worldwide, 10 nominations at the Academy Awards included Best Movie, Best Actress and Best Actress in a Supporting Role) this year\u2019s sequel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt19847976\/reference\/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_wicked%253a%2520forgood\"><strong>Wicked: For Good<\/strong><\/a> was by any means one of the most anticipated movies of the year. At the same time, the comparison with the first one would have been pretty inevitable, everyone knowing the difficulty of standing to such elevated cinematic standards. No problem, since this second chapter is something almost radically different from the previous one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First and most important: this time the narrative arc, the emotional and psychological journey we feel we want to follow is Glinda\u2019s. Once the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West was so powerfully established, now the audience is set this time to experience Glinda\u2019s growth and emancipation from Madame Morrible and the Wizard of Oz. After delivering one of the funniest performances of last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm3812858\/?ref_=ttrv_fcr_3_2\">Ariana Grande<\/a> shows her remarkable skills as a dramatic actor, filling her role with nothing but intensity. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm7248827\/?ref_=ttrv_fcr_3_1\">Cynthia Erivo<\/a> is still absolutely effective, no doubt about that, especially when it is about showing her incredible singing skills. That said, Elphaba is a way less interesting character in <strong>Wicked: For Good<\/strong>, and that makes Erivo\u2019s performance not as powerful as in the first movie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1774669342741533\" data-ad-slot=\"1211148813\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being clearly aware that the best songs were already performed in the first Wicked, the director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0160840\/?ref_=ttrv_fcr_1_1\">Jon M. Chu<\/a> and the screenwriters opted for another solution, which in the end elevated the movie\u2019s quality. In this case, the musical moments are more like the frame for the story and the characters. The best parts of <strong>Wicked: For Good<\/strong> are not the songs or the choreographies but the sequences in which the characters develop their relationships and show their feelings. Even more important, the tone is significantly darker, because it addresses a few contemporary issues like how minorities are treated nowadays and how an authoritarian regime takes advantage of media propaganda and lack of response from opposition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-32392 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wicked-for-Good2.png\" alt=\"Wicked for Good\" width=\"640\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wicked-for-Good2.png 640w, https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wicked-for-Good2-300x207.png 300w, https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wicked-for-Good2-218x150.png 218w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>@Courtesy of Universal Pictures<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If such themes were anticipated in the original feature film, it\u2019s in Wicked: for good they become the principal source of the plot, especially in the first part of the movie. The second chapter lasts almost half an hour less than the previous, and this is a mistake: there are a couple of moments in the movie in which Glinda and Elphaba change too fast, as a viewer you feel you would know a little more about their doubts or internal struggle. Not to mention the supporting characters, many of them losing their charming side and their depth, first of all Prince Fiyero played by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0047332\/?ref_=ttrv_fcr_3_5\">Jonathan Bailey<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if Wicked: For Good is not at the same level of the first movie, it is still absolutely worth watching and appreciating because it offers something different, maybe even more deep and dramatic. Jon M. Chu has shown his intelligence in creating a sequel that goes in another direction, that tries to develop a good deal of awareness about what\u2019s going on in our world. That is a bold choice, and it must be endorsed.<\/span><\/p>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1774669342741533\" data-ad-slot=\"1211148813\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After a good start, <strong>Wicked: For Good<\/strong> becomes more predictable when it\u2019s about bringing the story and the characters to their destiny. This is when the comparison with Wicked becomes hard: the incredible last twenty minutes of the first chapter, with \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d wonderfully scanning the action and the birth of The Wicked Witch of the West. Here instead the movie arrives at the final showdown and you almost don\u2019t realize it, because the scale of the events is so small and sudden. Another interesting choice for sure, but not that powerful. So when <strong>Wicked: For Good<\/strong> ends the viewer is left with a feeling of wanting more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It wasn\u2019t easy to match a great movie like <strong>Wicked<\/strong>. It wasn\u2019t easy at all. Jon M. Chu, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and all the other artists that worked at this amazing duo know it, so they tried using <strong>Wicked: For Good<\/strong> for delivering something different and unexpected, at least in the shape it was realized. Not everything works, that\u2019s evident, but in the end this sequel contains a lot of qualities that overcome the flaws and make it a pretty good movie. All included.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-32393 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wicked-for-Good3.png\" alt=\"Wicked for Good\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wicked-for-Good3.png 640w, https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wicked-for-Good3-300x201.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>@Courtesy of Universal Pictures<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rate: B-<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>If you like the review, share your thoughts below!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/author\/adrianoercolani73gmail-com\/\">Check out more of Adriano\u2019s articles.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Here\u2019s the trailer for Wicked: For Good:<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"vt98AlBDI9Y\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wicked: For Good | Official Trailer\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vt98AlBDI9Y?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1774669342741533\" data-ad-slot=\"1211148813\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>@Courtesy of Universal Pictures After the stunning and entirely deserved success of Wicked in 2024 (474 million dollars earned ad the US boxoffice, 755 worldwide, 10 nominations at the Academy Awards included Best Movie, Best Actress and Best Actress in a Supporting Role) this year\u2019s sequel Wicked: For Good was by any means one of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3044,"featured_media":32381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20471,19],"tags":[5199,1923,5579,218,7675,630,366,5198,27255],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Wicked: For Good&quot; Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie | Cinema Daily US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wicked For Good : Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;Wicked: For Good&quot; Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie | Cinema Daily US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wicked For Good : Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cinema Daily US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-22T05:13:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-22T05:14:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WFG01.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1296\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adriano Ercolani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adriano Ercolani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380\",\"name\":\"'Wicked: For Good\\\" Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie | Cinema Daily US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WFG01.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-22T05:13:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-22T05:14:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/95e551f0a1ad39393018c39bc723a947\"},\"description\":\"Wicked For Good : Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WFG01.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WFG01.webp\",\"width\":1296,\"height\":730},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8216;Wicked: For Good&#8221; Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/\",\"name\":\"Cinema Daily US\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/95e551f0a1ad39393018c39bc723a947\",\"name\":\"Adriano Ercolani\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adriano-Ercolani-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adriano-Ercolani-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Adriano Ercolani\"},\"description\":\"Adriano Ercolani Profile Italian Film Critic and TV Author living in New York since 2011. Critics Choice Association member. Graduated in History of Cinema in Rome, he works as a freelance correspondent for some of the most important Italian outlets like Hollywood Reporter Italy, Comingsoon.it, Cinefilos.it and Ciak Magazine. He started working as a film critic almost thirty years ago: in his career he attended the most important Film Festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, New York Film Festival, Tribeca) and conventions (San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con, Disney D23). All over the years he has interviewed some of the most important contemporary authors like Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Peter Jackson, Alexander Payne, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kathryn Bigelow, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion). In 2009 he interviewed Christiane Kubrick and Ian Harlan inside Stanley Kubrick\u2019s private office. Other than movies he is fond of American literature and basketball. Los Angeles Lakers fanatic. He lives in New York with his wife and his bossy 3-year -old daughter.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?author=3044\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Wicked: For Good\" Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie | Cinema Daily US","description":"Wicked For Good : Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Wicked: For Good\" Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie | Cinema Daily US","og_description":"Wicked For Good : Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.","og_url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380","og_site_name":"Cinema Daily US","article_published_time":"2025-11-22T05:13:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-22T05:14:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1296,"height":730,"url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WFG01.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Adriano Ercolani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adriano Ercolani","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380","name":"'Wicked: For Good\" Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie | Cinema Daily US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WFG01.webp","datePublished":"2025-11-22T05:13:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-22T05:14:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/95e551f0a1ad39393018c39bc723a947"},"description":"Wicked For Good : Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The second of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WFG01.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WFG01.webp","width":1296,"height":730},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32380#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8216;Wicked: For Good&#8221; Review: A Flawed But Brave Detour From the First Movie"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/","name":"Cinema Daily US","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/95e551f0a1ad39393018c39bc723a947","name":"Adriano Ercolani","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adriano-Ercolani-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adriano-Ercolani-150x150.jpg","caption":"Adriano Ercolani"},"description":"Adriano Ercolani Profile Italian Film Critic and TV Author living in New York since 2011. Critics Choice Association member. Graduated in History of Cinema in Rome, he works as a freelance correspondent for some of the most important Italian outlets like Hollywood Reporter Italy, Comingsoon.it, Cinefilos.it and Ciak Magazine. He started working as a film critic almost thirty years ago: in his career he attended the most important Film Festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, New York Film Festival, Tribeca) and conventions (San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con, Disney D23). All over the years he has interviewed some of the most important contemporary authors like Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Peter Jackson, Alexander Payne, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kathryn Bigelow, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion). In 2009 he interviewed Christiane Kubrick and Ian Harlan inside Stanley Kubrick\u2019s private office. Other than movies he is fond of American literature and basketball. Los Angeles Lakers fanatic. He lives in New York with his wife and his bossy 3-year -old daughter.","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?author=3044"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32380"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}