‘Wicked: For Good’ Rotten Tomatoes Score Is In – Does It Match the First Film?

The sequel to Wicked, titled Wicked: For Good, has premiered to mixed but generally positive reviews. Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film adapts the second act of the original stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman.

It continues the story of Elphaba and Glinda as they embrace their identities as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, set before and during the events of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Returning stars include Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum, with Colman Domingo joining the cast for the first time.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a critics’ score of 74% based on 88 reviews, slightly improved from its initial 72%. Audiences have responded even more positively, giving it an impressive 97% approval rating. The score is still lower than that of original film.

Critics praised the movie for successfully continuing the story from the first film, developing the characters, and staying true to the musical’s heart. Many highlighted the performances of Erivo and Grande as standout elements, noting that the film delivers strong musical numbers and emotional moments.

Covers the second act of the stage musical Wicked, but it feels like a true sequel to the first film released last year. Like The Empire Strikes Back or Back to the Future Part II, the new movie develops and complicates the story’s lore and characters.

Fred Topel

It wraps things up, but there’s no feeling of cohesion – something that was never going to be in Chu’s hands, and for what he has, he excels at.

Paul Klein

With Wicked: For Good, Chu reaffirms himself as a master of musicals – this spectacular sequel brings the tale to a fitting end of a cinematic triumph, with Erivo and Grande-Butera surely securing nominations in the upcoming awards season.

Katie Smith-Wong

[Wicked: For Good] is somewhat of a mixed bag, a second act that…due to the barebones narrative of the adaptive source material lacks the soaring exhilaration felt leaving the theater humming “Defying Gravity.”

Derrick Murray

While the first film was more Hollywood, this second film is more Broadway. Fans of the original musical should be delighted, but newcomers to Wicked might be slightly let down. Still, movie magic with powerful messages and performances.

Grace Randolph

However, some reviewers found the movie uneven. Criticism focused on the pacing and narrative, with some feeling the story could have been contained in a single film. Others noted that the visual style is intense and occasionally overwhelming, and that newcomers to Wicked might find it less accessible than the first movie.

Whatever magic that flying broom had to propel itself into the air in ‘Part One’ hits only severe turbulence throughout ‘For Good’ before crashing onto a yellow-brick tarmac.

Rendy Jones

If you bought the first film’s brash visual aesthetic – the result of a giant toddler vomiting candyfloss all over Walt Disney World – then you will be relieved to discover it has got no less stomach-unsettling.

Donald Clarke

It’s difficult to watch “For Good” and not think that all of this really should’ve been contained to a single epic film.

Brian Orndorf

Between its fealty to past versions of the story, and its unwillingness to break free from even the most rigid emotional and formal modes, the sequel refuses to even attempt to defy gravity, making it sink like a stone.

Siddhant Adlakha

The follow-up to director Jon M. Chu’s massive 2024 hit is more of the same, only darker. The dark elements are written into the show’s second act, which even fans would agree is not as good as the first.

Odie Henderson

Wicked: For Good has already had several international premieres, including São Paulo on November 4, Paris on November 7, London on November 10, Singapore on November 13, and New York City on November 17. The film will be released in theaters across the United States by Universal Pictures on November 21.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!