Wicked: For Good (2025) reviews

The Fuzzy Mushroom take on Wicked: For Good

By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 13 November 2026 · The Pros 64 · The Punters 78 · Spore Score 71 · How we write our takes

Why The Punters rate it higher than The Pros

Wicked: For Good is a crowd-pleaser in the truest sense: audiences like it more than critics do. The Punters give it 78, The Pros 64, and the Spore Score is 71, with a mostly clear tag. The 14-point gap follows a familiar pattern for second halves of big stage musicals. Fans who loved the first film were happy to see the story finished with the same stars, while critics felt this half, like the second act of the stage show, has less to work with.

What it is

Jon M. Chu directed both parts of the film version of Wicked, the long-running stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, itself based on Gregory Maguire's novel. Universal released Wicked: For Good on 21 November 2025, a year after the first film. Cynthia Erivo returns as Elphaba, now branded the Wicked Witch of the West, and Ariana Grande as Glinda, the public face of goodness in Oz. Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum also return, and the film moves the story into the events of The Wizard of Oz.

What it does well

Erivo and Grande are once again the reason to go. Their friendship is the heart of the story, and the big duet that gives the film its title is the emotional peak that fans waited for. The sets and costumes are as lavish as before, and the film adds new songs written for the screen.

Where The Pros have a point

The second act of the stage show has always been weaker than the first, and splitting it into a full-length film stretches it thin. The tone is darker and busier, the songs are less famous than Defying Gravity and Popular, and the links to The Wizard of Oz can feel like box-ticking.

Who it is for

Anyone who saw the first film and wants to know how it ends, fans of the stage musical, and families with older children who love a big screen musical.

The Fuzzy Mushroom verdict

Worth a watch, with a Spore Score of 71. A satisfying, beautifully performed ending for fans, even if critics feel the magic of part one is harder to repeat.