Despite the iron-clad soundtrack, well-cast leads, and clever backstory for some of the lingering questions posed by 1939's all-time great family musical The Wizard of Oz, last year's Wicked wasn't a very good movie. Its runtime was almost the length of the entire theatrical version, packing the originally tight script with bloated dialogue. Its color grading and backlit cinematography both stripped Oz of much of its eye-popping visual magic. And it was filled to the brim with grating fan service for audiences who grew up with the blockbuster musical and its stars (especially Ariana Grande, who continues to be one of the best-selling singers of all time).

But since its 2003 Broadway premiere, the world of Wicked has commanded such universal fandom that none of that mattered much on the 2024 film's path to ten Oscar nominations, two wins, and a box office haul topping $750 million. 

Now, a year later, Wicked: For Good looks poised for similar critical and commercial reception, despite being an even worse movie in every way. Director Jon M. Chu willfully forgets not only the few parts of Wicked that worked, but also the physicality and glamor he brought to greats like Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and In the Heights (2021), replacing his strengths with bad CGI and plot holes galore.

For Good picks up enmeshed in the interpersonal webs where the first movie (and the play's Act One) left off: Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) has transformed fully into the Wicked Witch of the West, vowing to fight and usurp the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum). While she's busy causing havoc throughout Oz, all nominally to protect the animal underclass that the Wizard is trying to stamp out, Glinda (Grande) is the new glimmering spokeswoman for the Wizard's reign. Not too bright, Glinda's hand is forced by Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) in Morrible's propagandistic campaign against the Witch; that's fine for Glinda, though, because she's more worried about winning the heart of handsome Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey). Meanwhile, Elphaba's sister Nessa (Marissa Bode) continues her overwrought fascistic turn as provincial governor, while she crushes on her munchkin servant Boq (Ethan Slater). 

With that groundwork laid, a lot "happens" in the top-heavy 127-minute runtime of For Good. People turn into tin men and scarecrows, witches melt, spells are cast, and the world of Oz comes near enough to our own human Earth that a certain little girl and her dog are able to cross over. But Chu has vanishingly little to work with: the play's Act Two is less than an hour long, and is home to the musical's dullest songs, from Nessa's clunky and rushed "The Wicked Witch of the East" to Boq's exposition-heavy "March of the Witch Hunters" to a handful of weary reprises. Neither Grande and Erivo's pipes, nor the raw potency of the titular banger ("For Good"), can save the dozen crappy songs that crawlingly move the story along. 

Moreover, the cash-grab of the forced two-movie split is laid nakedly bare as almost nothing of sense takes place in For Good. Long, wordy periods of dialogue penned specifically for the silver screen somehow isolate actors talking at, not with, each other. Some developments feel cursory, like the ICE-style crackdown on migration and other cheap political commentary, while others don't track even using the internal logic of Oz, like the continued persecution of the animals and their magical wordlessness or the need for all big announcements to be made in Munchkinland instead of the more urban Emerald City. Unbelievably strong plot armor for the Wizard protects him (and the plot!) against Elphaba's multiple chances to put the old man out of his misery. Awkward performances from the supporting cast include Yeoh's cardboard villainy, Bode's surface-level transformation, and Goldblum's quirky-dad schtick he brings to every role these days. And Bailey, whose physical attractiveness as Fiyero made him an understandable target for Glinda and Elphaba in the first movie, delivers no on-screen chemistry with either in moments that matter in the sequel. Plus, all of this takes place in the drab and colorless Oz, which thanks to the "dark" turn of the plot are even darker and more disappointing than they were before.

Besides the small joy of hearing fellow audience members quietly murmur along to "Thank Goodness" and "As Long As You're Mine," and the (unintentional?) humor of each Witch hair-flick and Glinda brow-furrow, For Good drags out the worse half of a decent musical into a two-hour snoozer.