A new movie directed by Jon M Chu has been released; this movie is the sequel to Wicked and is titled Wicked: for Good. The movies Wicked and Wicked: for Good are based on the book also titled Wicked by Gregory Maguire and the rendition of that book. The movie stars Cynthia Evrivo, who plays the role of Elphaba, and Ariana Grande, who portrays the role of Glinda, become good friends in the movie. Wicked (part one) was released on November 22, 2024 while the second installment of the movie franchise was released more recently on November 21, 2025. The first movie was an instant hit, but a question remains: is the second movie as good as the first?

Wicked opens with a scene after Elphaba’s death when Glinda is greeting a crowd of people from Munchkin land, and then the movie takes off into a flashback, showing the two leads when they went to school together. Elphaba was known as an outcast, for she had green skin and magical powers. Her magical powers may have been considered strange at first, but later in the story people admired her for them when she got the chance to meet the wizard in the first movie. Wicked for Good begins with the same moment, showing Glinda in Munchkin land. Again, the story backtracks to fill in the gap and reveal what happened to lead to this moment, picking up where the first movie ended. However, Wicked for Good was reviewed by some as having an “unappealing” plot when compared to the first film while others like St. Robert 7th grader Carolina says that she appreciates the director for going into more depth of the story plot, and she enjoyed the movie, especially when watched back-to-back with the first one.

Wicked for Good does not yet have a rating on Netflix because it is still in theaters, but many people online are saying that it is not as good as the first movie. Some claim that Jon M Chu did not capture the details of the land of Oz as well as he could have. In fact, those who recall the original Wizard of Oz film from the 1930s argue that the land of Oz can’t even be compared to the early imaginings of the city. Others focused on the story being told, which felt more disjointed and less intentional than the first. The second film in the franchise splices together plot lines about the independence of animals in the land of Oz with the personal journeys of Elphaba and Glinda as well as the developing relationships between several characters in the film. While the many plot points may have been lost on audiences, most people say that one of the songs –  “No Good Deed” –  is a real highlight in the film, for it was re-opened from the first. “As Long As Your Mine” also stood out to audiences, being another good song in the movie according to people who have watched the movie online.

Now that the two newest Wicked movies are complete and released to the public, most people are complaining about how Chu didn’t capture the details that would have brought together the movies. However, many are enjoying that the local Marcus theaters offered a two-in-one feature for the Wicked movies, so fans can watch the movies back-to-back. The feature seemingly brought the movies together giving more context for the second movie. Those who watched the two-in-one feature seemed to have a better review of the second movie while those who watched the second movie by itself thought the details and storyline was not as good as the first. So far reviewers have claimed that Wicked is the biggest climactic fail of the year, as many people online say that it didn’t even come close to comparing to the first movie. This shows that indeed Wicked for Good is not as good as the first.

References

Felix Hughes author of “Review: Sadly, ‘Wicked for Good’ is not so good’” NEXTMAG, November 20 2025. //nextmag.ca/review-sadly-wicked-for-good-is-not-so-good/