For Good leaves critics much less spellbound than the primary movie

Wicked: For Good has obtained broadly constructive critiques from critics – however many are far much less spellbound than they had been by the primary movie.

The much-anticipated sequel, launched on Friday, sees Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande reprise their roles as Elphaba and Glinda within the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Wicked: For Good is “not quite Wicked: For Great”, said Empire’s John Nugent in a three-star evaluate.

Total Film’s Molly Edwards praised the movie as an “absolute triumph”, however added it “suffers slightly from thinner source material and weak new songs”.

The Wizard of Oz spin-off, tailored from the massively profitable stage musical, is initially primarily based on a 1995 guide by Gregory Maguire.

The second movie supplies contemporary origin tales for Dorothy’s journey companions in Oz – the Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man.

Wicked: For Good additionally sees Jeff Goldblum return because the Wizard, alongside Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero.

The i paper’s Francesca Steele said: “It doesn’t quite reach the heights of Part One, but this is still a highly entertaining display of what musical theatre can do on screen with top level performances and a true affection for the world-building.”

Many critics had been much less enthusiastic. “There’s no magic in this aimless slog of a sequel,” said the Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey in a two-star evaluate.

“If your complaint about last year’s Wicked was that it was so oddly lit that you could barely see what was going on, then fear not – in Wicked: For Good, you won’t mind so much, because there’s so little to look at.”

In a one-star evaluate, the Telegraph’s Robbie Collin said: “It doesn’t amount to two hours of story – the stage show clips through the same plot in around half the time – and the padding is as obvious as it is exhausting.”

He recommended the central pair’s friendship “rings false”, including: “What should be piercing, impassioned moments are by turns frivolous and sappy.”

However, Kevin Maher of the Times was way more constructive, awarding the movie 4 stars.

“They’ve only gone and done it,” he stated. “The makers of this musical sequel have delivered a film that surpasses last year’s box-office smash in verve, ambition and emotional ache.”

Both films have been directed by Jon M Chu, who was additionally behind Crazy Rich Asians, In The Heights and Now You See Me 2.

Chu can be set to direct a brand new big-screen adaptation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, pencilled in for launch in 2027.

Many critics highlighted Grande’s efficiency in Wicked: For Good, with a number of predicting one other supporting actress nomination on the Oscars in March.

Variety’s Peter Debruge said the pop star exhibits “fragility” in her extra “nuanced” efficiency.

“Whereas Grande had a relatively one-dimensional role to play in part one, Glinda now faces a complex evolution,” he stated.

“Grande has been acting since she was a kid,” noted the Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney, “and her quiet moments of introspection, anxiety or sadness show tender depths, as does her loyalty to Elphaba.”

But he additionally praised her co-star. “Make no mistake, Erivo remains a powerhouse, with pipes that shake the heavens and a wellspring of unforced emotional intensity that never runs dry.”

“What a performance from Erivo,” agreed the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw in a four-star evaluate.

He added the sequel as an entire “keeps the rainbow-coloured dreaminess and the Broadway show tune zinginess from part one”.

The stage musical was cut up into two elements for its movie adaptation, however the two films had been filmed in a single go.

The first was launched final November and grossed greater than £750m on the field workplace worldwide.

It went on to win two Oscars and two Baftas, for costume and manufacturing design, in addition to the cinematic and field workplace achievement prize on the Golden Globes.

One downside going through the sequel is that almost all of Wicked’s best-known songs, together with Popular and The Wizard and I, appeared within the first movie.

It’s a problem it shares with the Broadway and West End musical. “On stage, the second act lacks a song as strong as Defying Gravity,” Debruge famous.

In his Empire evaluate of Wicked: For Good, Nugent concluded: “The tone is different from that of the first film: less peppy, more glum.

“With the exception of Goldblum – who seems to be performing in his personal movie, delighting in stuttery drollness - all of the characters are a lot much less cheerful than they had been final time round, and because of this it is much less pleasant for us to observe.”