🫧 Wicked: For Good (2025) in Dolby Atmos

3 Out of 5 Bags 💰💰💰

Written by Jonathan Garcia

Wicked For Good

Leaving the theater kind of felt like finding out the yellow brick road is just bricks. “Wicked: For Good” the 2025 highly anticipated masterpiece scores a 3 out of 5 bags for its not so wicked Dolby Atmos, let's talk about it!

🎧 Dolby Atmos 

(The immersive balance, depth, panning, creativity and immersive experience the film holds.)

The Dolby Atmos left me a bit puzzled. It felt extremely stereo front leaning and forward, but the LFE was feeling exceptional. There were so many moments that had the potential of being immersive but stayed stereo focused. For example, the song of “The Witch is Dead”, the parade crowd, the paper falling and even the orchestra was all in the front. We get some good Dolby Atmos filling the theater. The first Part of Wicked released in 2024 and was extremely adventurous in its immersive panning and balance. Even though it was sonically painful, the immersive mix had much more going on than Part 2.   

🎛️ Sonic Texture

(Overall sonic experience of the film)

The best part of the movie was actually the sonic quality. The mix is much cleaner, softer, and more balanced than in Part 1. None of the harsh pain from the first movie. Thank you lol. The vocals are clean, the orchestral elements feel natural. This is definitely a smoother sonic picture overall compared to the first. Since a majority was stereo, it was easy to hear the full mix. 

🔊 Dynamics & Loudness 

The overall dynamic range is good! It’s interesting how the mix is so conservative in the immersive field but not in dynamics. From quiet moments like hiding from Dorothy to loud explosions like when the Wizard of OZ is shooting fireballs. The dynamic range is the second best part of this film!

🎚️ LFE

(How big of a role does the LFE play, Is it beneficial, creative, or useless)

Okay, the LFE is used sparingly, mainly hitting during important moments. That being said, this is where the Dolby Atmos shines. Bringing the full immersive feeling into the theater, the LFE engulfs us with every hit! It’s never boomy, muddy, distorting or over stepping the dialogue. It’s a meaningful use of bass when the story calls for it. 

🎬 Favorite Moments

• Glinda Bubble: Such a fun filter that immerses us inside the magic bubble!

• The Triangle: There’s a tiny triangle panning around and it’s quite amusing. Top tier Dolby Atmos ;) 

• Elphaba Flying: This is quick but a full impact and immersive moment as Elphaba flies above us. With good LFE support it actually feels like she’s really in the theater zooming around. 

• No Good Deed: This act scene is full and immersive. The Atmos moment we’ve been waiting for!!!

• The Announcer: When the announcements of the Wicked Witch dying came on the megaphone it was one of the first immersive moments but felt like 5.1

💡 Final Thoughts

3 Out of 5 Bags 💰💰💰

Wicked: For Good gets 3 out of 5 bags! This is a major improvement compared to Part 1. The sonics are smoother and much less painful. The Dolby Atmos is sadly very stereo oriented. This made me wonder if they felt like they were too careless in the first one, so they dialed back their immersive placements. What did you think? Were you able to catch this movie in Dolby? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.