‘Wicked: For Good’ Scores Big with Audiences Despite Mixed Reviews

Wicked: For Good, also called Wicked: Part Two, has arrived in theaters and is getting mixed reactions from critics while audiences are clearly enjoying it.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the movie continues the story of Elphaba and Glinda in the Land of Oz. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo return to play the two leads, alongside Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum.

The film adapts the second half of the 2003 stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman, which itself was based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, a reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Wicked: For Good explores how Elphaba and Glinda come into their full identities as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, set before and during the events of the 1939 Oz film.

The movie premiered at the Suhai Music Hall in São Paulo, Brazil, on November 4, before opening in the United States on November 21. So far, it has made $36 million worldwide. Audiences have responded positively, with CinemaScore giving the film an A, and PostTrak reporting that 92% of viewers had an overall positive impression, with 82% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Critics, however, have been less enthusiastic. Rotten Tomatoes shows 70% of 225 reviews are positive, with the site noting, “Taking one last lap down the yellow brick road, Wicked: For Good’s darker tone and unhurried pacing sometimes get in the way, but this epic conclusion ultimately brings Elphaba and Glinda’s story home in rousing fashion.” Metacritic gives it a score of 58 out of 100, signaling mixed or average reviews.

Some critics were harsher, saying things like, “Splitting Wicked into two movies was a financially successful decision, just not the right creative one,” and, “Wicked: For Good is remarkably, uniquely awful. The pacing is atrocious, the visuals are wonky, and sidelining Erivo for Grande is like trading an ice-cold beer on a hot day for a glass of lukewarm milk. A glass of milk that is trying way, way too hard.”

The final #WickedForGood trailer is here ✨ Watch now. pic.twitter.com/P9UPa4B1Rx

— Wicked: For Good (@wickedmovie) September 24, 2025

Others called it “a sodden, soggy mess” or criticized the movie for leaning too much into modern blockbuster styles, stating, “For Good is the worst of both worlds, with the flaws inherent in its source amplified by the drabness and dourness of Chu’s capitulation to modern blockbuster stylings.”

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