The highly anticipated second half, or act, of the movie adaptation of the musical “Wicked” was released to theaters on Friday, November 21.

This movie, titled “Wicked: For Good,” follows main characters Elphaba (Cyntia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) after the conclusion of the first act. There is a time jump in between the two acts of the musical but there is no confirmation as to how much time has passed though many people agree that it is somewhere between one and five years.

This movie also dives deeper into other characters such as Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), Boq (Ethan Slater) and Nessarose (Marissa Bode). The movie incorporates aspects of their stories that are not necessarily important to or influential for Elphaba or Glinda.

“Wicked: For Good” follows Erivo and Grande’s characters through the ups and downs of their friendship and explores what a balance of ambition and loyalty can look like in a relationship as the characters discover things about themselves and the world around them.

“Wicked: For Good” featured many popular songs from the original musical such as “For Good” and “No Good Deed,” but there were also new songs added to the film: “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble.”

There have been mixed reactions from audiences, with some saying that “Wicked: For Good” did not have good pacing and others saying that it was one of the best movies they have seen.

Unlike the first “Wicked” movie, “Wicked: For Good” did not start out with a big musical number which made the film seem very slow at the beginning. 

Audiences were thrown into a situation where they may not have known exactly what was going on or how much time had passed since the first film concluded.

There were also less “big hitting” songs in “Wicked: For Good,” which also made the pacing of the film feel strange. To many people there are really three main songs in this film: “For Good,” “No Good Deed” and “As Long As You’re Mine.” In between these songs there are others, but none of them are particularly notable, and there is a lot of dialogue which makes the movie feel as if it drags on.

Comparing this to the first “Wicked” movie, “Wicked: For Good” feels seemingly empty. It felt as if the plot progressed very slowly and the movie was drug out even though it was nearly half an hour shorter than the first, which felt well paced and flowed very well.

With all of this being said, “Wicked: For Good” stuck to the plot of the musical which is likely why this movie fell flat with most audiences. The second act of the stage musical is typically just not as interesting as the first, and the music takes a nosedive in quality compared to the first act.

Overall “Wicked: For Good” is alright. It pales in comparison to “Wicked,” but there are still good aspects to it such as the portrayal of the difficult dynamic between Elphaba and Glinda.