Unlike other stories concluding at the flicks this year (hi, Mission Impossible), fans of Wicked know what to expect with Wicked: For Good—or rather, they know what they’re not going to get. The first film was gifted with the musical’s soaring acceleration to Defying Gravity—a show-stopper if ever there was one. But the show must go on. 

What emerges after a prolonged interval drink is enjoyably contrary, as it continues the story seen by tens of millions around the world over the last two decades by drawing on the first film as much as it steers into the complex tone introduced at Wicked’s climax.

Wicked: For Good certainly benefits from being seen shortly after the first half (the five-hour run-time must have deterred Universal from running mass dual-screenings—a shame, but two-handers will become a staple), but it also has all the benefits of leaping forward. The first took a Harry Potter approach to much of its runtime, while the second leaps forward to the horrible realities of adulthood. All the characters are emphatically grown up and hold jobs, including the Wicked Witch, now enshrined in the minds of the people of Oz as Enemy Number One. Even the Cowardly Lion has grown up (and developed, brilliantly, Colman Domingo’s voice).

The mass infrastructure build of a yellow brick road leading to the Emerald City is being disrupted by hit-and-fly attacks from Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the Wicked Witch of the West. While she hides in the woods, the state mechanism has swung into full gear in the city, pumping out endless propaganda about Oz’s new enemy. It’s there that Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) is now presented as Glinda the Good, the public face for the ingenious mechanisms of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), which fool the masses with the illusion of magic. Glinda is soon engaged to Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), now Captain of the Gale Force, and tasked with capturing the Wicked Witch, although the couple privately question the endless pursuit of their former friend. As winged monkeys sweep the land for Elphaba and signs of sedition, the animals of Oz take the dangerous route away from Oz, knowing that they’ll never have a place there again.

Despite Elphaba’s best intentions, she fails to convince the animals to stay or use her magic for good without consequence. After helping her sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), now the governor of Munchkinland, fly with silver and ruby slippers, her desperate sister distorts the spells of the Grimmerie to stop Boq (Ethan Slater) from leaving her, only to remove his heart, forcing Elphaba to transform him into a tin man when she attempts to prevent him from leaving her. When the Wicked Witch uncovers the Wizard’s true intentions, the power behind the throne, Madam Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), conjures a storm, inadvertently bringing a house crashing down from Kansas, and ensuring that Oz will never be the same again.

While Wicked (the former Part One) promised a revisionist prequel, it soon becomes clear that Wicked: For Good constitutes a remake of The Wizard of Oz from the point of view of the witches. No surprise for fans of the musical, but it means many more elements, spinning plates, and flying monkeys fill in for the simple rising scale of the first film. With a lot going on, despite specially written songs, it can all feel simultaneously a bit rushed, particularly when a girl and her dog from Kansas skip off to kill the Wicked Witch, and a bit slow as we’re left in no doubt we’re watching what for many years would be considered the B-plot.

So much is different, but Wicked relies on being the same. It couldn’t fly without that first part, and it benefits from how well that did the job, so perhaps the most impressive thing is how well it builds its characters. All the main characters are enhanced, even those we see for a few short scenes.

Nessarose’s trajectory is all the more tragic as her career as the Wicked Witch of the East lasts one spell. The transformation of Boq and the compelling personal testimony of the Cowardly Lion are exactly the revisionist twisting those craving more cynicism are here for. 

Talking of, Goldblum’s Wizard gets to really write that chilling carny con man vibe, even if his attempts to make Oz more like his homeland aren’t particularly fleshed out. 

Erivo carries the weight of the film, and it’s as thrilling to see her Witch realise her only way forward as to see her ambush some jobsworth munchkins. Bailey does his best with Fiyero, who is lumbered, or stuffed, with a rapid journey at the front end and is necessarily out of the picture for the last half, but gets an effective pay-off. Glinda, though, is the real treat. From the flashbacks that capture the spoiled girl who’ll never know magic to the leader who can tackle the corruption of the land while absorbing loss on the way, hers is quite the journey. Despite some rather mean-spirited critiques, Grande mops it up. She may not be the lead (technically), but both Grande and Erivo have to sing at each other full pelt to sell this. 

The new songs Stephen Schwartz has written to fill out the second half may not stand up to Popular or Defying Gravity—what could?—but The Girl in the Bubble is a glorious feast of direction, where Chu lets frames flow through mirrors in a feat of quiet abstraction and symbolism that gives Glinda, and Grande, a chance to reflect.

Wicked: For Good lives up to its title, but the rush of the plot and the generally weaker base of songs expose some fragile links. While Michelle Yeoh may excel at the brush off and mild distaste at her creation, Glinda the Good, she comes unstuck when hitting the notes. The musical’s closeness to the famous story of Oz that doesn’t feature her makes her feel even more superfluous as the magic-wielding Lady Macbeth.

If the Wicked story tells us anything, though, it’s that Oz has a place for everyone and everything. The pivotal, disrupted marriage ceremony at the heart of Wicked: For Good is one moment that might just hit you with a wave of glorious diversity, opportunity, and imagination, even before an animal stampede. It’s not just sailing past a billion at the box office that shows Chu and crew have achieved the spectacular.