Wicked: For Good
Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 21, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 60 Critic Reviews
Positive:
32
Mixed:
23
Negative:
5

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
SlateDana StevensNov 20, 2025
The resolution of these characters’ arcs, and of For Good’s several other subplots, feels unsatisfying, rushed through and at the same time too fussed over. But any sense of disappointment that Wicked: For Good doesn’t quite live up to the first movie pops like a big pink bubble the moment Erivo and Grande unite one last time to sing the showstopping duet “For Good.” Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenNov 19, 2025
Ultimately, though, there’s not enough story to fuel a three-hour musical stretched across nearly five hours. What once was brisk and bright becomes a bit of a slog. Fans will be obsessified; everyone else, ossified. Read full review
60
NMENick LevineNov 19, 2025
Wicked: For Good doesn’t defy gravity like its predecessor but fans will want to hold space for a sequel with a very poignant payoff. Read full review
60
ScreenCrushMatt SingerNov 18, 2025
Ultimately, the best creative argument in favor of making two Wicked movies is that it let the audience spend even more time with the story’s characters and the two lead performers, who really are terrific together. Read full review
60
EmpireJohn NugentNov 18, 2025
Wicked: For Good, sure — but not quite Wicked: For Great. Read full review
60
IGNEmma StefanskyNov 18, 2025
Wicked: For Good brings Jon M. Chu’s movie-musical duology to a climactic conclusion that’s dark in every sense of the word. With harrowing action scenes, heart-wrenching musical numbers, and excessively dimly-lit scenery, this sequel compounds all of the problems of the first movie while introducing some wholly new ones of its own. Dual leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are as luminous as ever, electric whenever they’re sharing the screen together, but there’s a lot of movie to slog through to get there. Read full review
55
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeNov 18, 2025
Any evolution should be appreciated, perhaps, as the story chugs its way to the finish line. Wicked fans can delight in one final visit to Oz, while those of us less enamored can hope that the yellow brick road ends here. For good. Read full review
50
The RevealScott TobiasNov 21, 2025
The sturdiness of Elphaba and Glinda’s bond throughout these tragic miscues—and Erivo and Grande’s fine dramatic and vocal performances—give this rickety enterprise a solid foundation. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshNov 20, 2025
Thanks to Grande’s emotional performance, what does shine through is Glinda’s personal story about embracing change, stepping into her own power and defining what it means to be “good,” on her own terms — not because it’s her brand. This is decidedly Glinda’s movie, and that is the one good thing. Read full review
50
Washington PostNaveen KumarNov 19, 2025
Despite its packed agenda, the film can also feel meandering and directionless. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla MeyerNov 18, 2025
It’s such a pure delight to see Erivo and Grande just standing around when they finally duet on “For Good” that we will take that scene over a hundred where their characters dance, preen or ride a broom on their own. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonNov 18, 2025
Like its predecessor, Wicked: For Good benefits greatly from the fact that its two leads are fantastic singers, and its director knows how to stage a musical number. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJake CoyleNov 18, 2025
All the momentum that “Wicked: For Good” does gather is owed significantly to its stars. To a large degree, these movies have been the Erivo-and-Grande show, a grand spectacle of female friendship that rises above all the petty biases and misjudgments to forge a vision of harmony in opposites. It’s a compelling vision, and Chu, as he did in the triumphant “Defying Gravity” culmination of part one, knows how to stick the landing. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 18, 2025
There are a few decent numbers left. Erivo still makes you feel like she owns this role. But for better or worse, For Good mostly feels like a mere reprise of the first film’s candy-colored cacophony, only with the volume slightly turned down. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 18, 2025
Ultimately director Jon M. Chu’s more-is-more approach has a numbing effect, the endless spectacle leaving little room for nuance, depth or genuine feeling. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerNov 18, 2025
The intimate highlights are too few and far between in this distended adaptation. Read full review
45
The AtlanticDavid SimsNov 24, 2025
The best I can say about For Good is that its two stars, Cynthia Erivo (as the green-skinned witch Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (her sickeningly sweet friend Glinda), are strong-enough performers to make the most bizarre turns feel functional. But even they can’t keep the film from collapsing under the lightest scrutiny. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 21, 2025
While Wicked: For Good repeats much of the same formula as the first picture, there is a crucial ingredient missing: humour. Without it, the spark is extinguished; the astringency that cut through the sentimentality of the first picture is gone. Read full review
40
TimeStephanie ZacharekNov 20, 2025
Life is too short for leaden fanfiction liked Wicked: For Good, an extravagant picture that’s not nearly as imaginative as it thinks it is. Read full review
40
Little White LiesHannah StrongNov 19, 2025
With no substance and no style to be found, all that is left in Wicked: For Good is two actresses, doing more than just belting their hearts out by giving genuinely compelling performances. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeNov 18, 2025
Yet, through sheer insistence, Erivo and Grande, who deserve the bump in status they’ve received, almost pull it back together with a closing duet that makes a virtue of emotional incontinence. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyNov 18, 2025
I guess we should at least be thankful we’ve been spared the monstrosity of a CGI-rendered Judy Garland as Dorothy (that said, there is some extremely disconcerting use of de-ageing tech elsewhere). But, as those witches might say, one good deed hardly changes things for the better. Read full review
40
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiNov 18, 2025
There hasn’t been a pre-planned 'Part Two' this disappointing since the second half of Andy Muschietti’s 'It.' At least nobody projectile vomits on Jeff Goldblum to the tune of Juice Newton’s 'Angel of the Morning.' Then again, that would have been more memorable. Read full review
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