Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread — Page 116

Stephen Schwartz: My life upon the 'Wicked' stage (and screen) & many more musicals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhNx021KlZs

People didn't wish her any harm, her fandom is great, people were just upset that didn't happened.

Her ''don't wish danger on us'' was not necessary, Grande has just been lacking attention on Brazil (her third, I guess, biggest market) and people got frustrated.

Ariana Grande at the Singapore premiere

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DGqtb7

MadsonMelo said: "I saw the movie and really liked, but then again I was a fan of the first part.

The fact that a 50 minute second act was turned into a 2h movie helps to bring some solutions, but also expose some problems.

Aside from a gorgeous ''Thank Goodness'', the fact that we have to deal with ''Wonderful'' and Elphaba's new solo doesn't help because I'm not necessarily a fan of this animal subplot.

But once we get this trio in action everything gains power and drama because Ariana, Cynthia and Bailey are just so good in these roles that I can't even put into words.

Erivo's No Good Deed is so magnificent that feels like real live theater, the scene is beautiful shot as some scene in this part like the tornado one. The color grading and lightning were certainly ''fixed'' and the movie looks even prettier than the first one.

I don't think anyone sang AS LONG AS YOU'RE MINE like Bailey, his voice is just stellar.

Glinda's new solo, like Elphaba's, is not remarkable musically but fits the narrative better and leads to a FOR GOOD that it's perfection, there's a beautiful shot between Glinda and Elphaba at Kiamo Ko that I simply adored.

The movie really soars after the first 30 minutes and it's a beautiful way to close this chapter."

I thought No Good Deed was the best of all the songs in the stage to screen adaptation. It was so big and epic. It even got a round of applause in the screening I saw.

Despite the film filling in lots of the details the show doesn't have, I felt it highlighted some of the story's plot holes..

Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande Reflect on Wicked After Red Carpet Scare

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/cynthia-erivo-ariana-grande-wicked-reflection-singapore-1236583015

Just got out of a screening of Wicked: For Good.

I loved so much of the first film. The cinematography in Part I was mostly gorgeous and sometimes breathtaking. The easter eggs and fan service were subtle. Most importantly, Cynthia, Ariana, and Jon M. Chu found so much emotional depth in hidden places. The Ozdust Ballroom scene comes immediately to mind. I was really looking forward to a similar experience in For Good. Some spoilers ahead.

I saw it tonight and really loved it. No Good Deed is absolutely the highlight and got deserved applause.

Some other thoughts:

-I really liked the opening sequence

-Neither new song was that exciting for me. I liked the idea of both of them but neither build to a satisfying climax

-Ariana and Cynthia obviously shine. People on both sides of me were weeping during For Good

-I thought the ending was a little too drawn out

Dan Bayer of Next Best Picture writes "Act Two of Wicked is the reason I don’t like Wicked (on stage), but since the changes to Part One added depth, I was cautiously optimistic for this. Sadly, not all the book problems get solved, but Erivo and especially Grande yet again make the most of the new material. The design elements remain delectable, but the muddy digital sheen over everything makes it look cheaper, more plastic, and some of the visual effects sequences look seriously shoddy. Combined with the story issues, it fails to fly as high as Part One, I’m sorry to say."
https://letterboxd.com/dancindan/film/wicked-for-good/

In her review for Next Best Picture, Lauren LaMagna, who gave the first film an 8/10, gives the second one a 7/10.
https://nextbestpicture.com/wicked-for-good/

Just got out of an early screening and I thought that Wicked: For Good was quite a large improvement over the original musical's Act II. I think it's as equal with the first film in terms of quality and an extremely satisfying conclusion to the two Wicked films. Cynthia and Ariana are as perfect as they were before with maybe Ariana getting the slight edge because of the wide range of emotions that she sells so effortlessly. The two new songs were actually pretty good from what I could hear with maybe "The Girl in the Bubble" being my favorite of the two but "No Place Like Home" is really good too. To me those two songs never felt like Oscar-bait which was a relief to me. All in all, a great way to spend a day at the movies; and while critics predictably won't care for the second half of Wicked as they did with the first film, audiences are head over heels in love with it as they were last year.

10 out 10. If the two Wicked films were combined into one film with an intermission, this would be one of the best film adaptations of a Broadway musical we had quite possibly since The Sound of Music.

I liked the movie a lot! I think Part 1 might have been the better film, but this one also knocked it out of the park. Everyone is singing Ariana’s praises, and while she does a good job, I do wish Cynthia was getting more raves, too, because she absolutely killed it. She brought life and strength into my favorite female character of all time, and boy, can she SING!

The audience I saw it with clapped at two songs: As Long As You’re Mine and No Good Deed. ALAYM also got some gasps and giggles from the women around me, so that was fun, too. I wasn’t a fan of the two new songs, and I walked out already forgetting what they even sounded like and wishing they could have been cut to give other scenes some room to breathe. Unfortunately, the pacing issues that are infamous in Act 2 of the stage musical are still present here, but it’s not really as bad as in the source material, given the added length. I still think cutting the story into two parts was the right move.

All in all, as a longtime Wicked fan, I’m grateful the horrors I imagined for a potential movie over the years didn’t end up touching this project. It feels surreal to finally live in a post-Wicked movie world, yet here we are. Go enjoy it, y’all!

That opening ten minutes is completely unnecessary, the animal subplot ( I haven’t read the book ) drags the film to shattering halt. It takes so long to get going that a good thirty minutes should have ended up on the cutting room floor. I personally think that act two on stage becomes engaging theatre ( after the drawn out awful act one, up to we finally get to the Wizard )

In saying all of that the final forty or so minutes was indeed wonderful, but I think the first films pacing and storytelling win.


Both ladies very good, but nothing like the first film, No Good Deed and For Good the highlights!

Leonardo DiCaprio, Danny Strong to Make 'Wizard of Oz' Doc

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/wizard-of-oz-documentary-leonardo-dicaprio-1236584799/