As a literature student, a long-time musical theatre lover, and an enthusiast for film, a project like Jon M. Chu’s memorialisation of a stage musical adapted from a literary stimulus doesn’t come around very often. With Wicked: For Good, the second half of his ambitious two-part adaptation, Chu delivers a soaring, deeply felt conclusion that justifies every frame of its expansive runtime and every moment of anticipation between releases. In choosing to portray Dorothy only in shadow or from behind, since this instalment intersects with The Wizard of Oz, Chu cleverly amplifies whose story this truly is, whilst also allowing for the mythology of the original film to remain undisturbed.
Filming both parts consecutively lends For Good a continuity rarely seen in large-scale adaptations. Performances retain their emotional momentum, relationships remain texturally consistent, and the world feels truly lived-in rather than reconstructed after the fact. The decision prevents the tonal dissonance that often plagues multi-year productions and reinforces the story’s sense of unity.
What is immediately striking is the meticulousness of the visual world. Oz is defined by rigidity–structured bodices, stiff lines, ceremonial excess–mirroring the state’s obsession with order and obedience. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), by contrast, moves through the film draped in fabric that flows rather than confines, her very silhouette protesting the system that seeks to contain her. Even Fiyero’s (Jonathan Bailey) shift from straitjacketed prince to loose-shirted rebel is a quiet, telling gesture. And when Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) steps into “For Good” in clothing stripped of ornamentation, and constraint, the visual symbolism completes itself.
More than in Part One, the political undercurrents simmer to the surface. The film’s treatment of animal cruelty and the suppression of sentient beings’ voices is handled with careful poignancy. A particularly searing parallel sequence–Glinda descending a staircase lined with sycophants who adore what she represents, contrasted with Elphaba’s descent among caged animals–lays bare the film’s central idea: that one person’s ascent is frequently reliant upon another’s erasure and suffering. The film repeatedly returns to the idea of perception—who is seen, how they are seen, and by whose eyes they are judged. The line “Look at me — not with your eyes, but theirs” echoes this theme with devastating clarity.
The film also refuses to shy away from the brutality of opportunism. Nessa (Marissa Bode) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) emerge as the story’s most quietly devastating antagonists; Nessa’s willingness to blame Elphaba for the consequences of her own desperation, and Morrible’s calculating ease in propagating convenient falsehoods, expose how quickly loyalty collapses when self-interest can be served.
Stephen Schwartz’s musical additions, “No Place Like Home” and “A Girl in the Bubble,” feel not only justified but essential: the former deepens Elphaba’s alignment with the vulnerable creatures she fights so vehemently to protect; the latter gives Glinda an indispensable confrontation with the cost of her sheltered desires. Though Part II of Wicked is less laden with showstopping anthems, the film’s orchestral motifs bind both parts together with emotional clarity. “As Long as You’re Mine,” “No Good Deed,” and an exquisite “For Good” are performed with such vocal ferocity that they border on overwhelming–testament to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s impeccable casting. Their genuine off-screen bond translates seamlessly on-screen, grounding the film in a friendship more enduring than any romance it depicts.
What ultimately elevates Wicked: For Good is its sincerity. This is an affecting story about propaganda, complicity, and the ease within which the powerful manipulate truth – but above all, it is about a friendship so profound that it reshapes identity and fosters its own kind of magic. In the final shot, as Glinda rests her head on Elphaba’s shoulder in a moment free of titles, duties, or illusion, Chu reminds us that presence can endure even through absence, and that authenticity, though seldom the easiest path, is always the truest one.
“Cynthia Erivo – Wicked-FYC-2 (cropped)” by Kevin Paul is licensed under CC BY 4.0