That “Wicked: For Good” is excellent is about as surprising as the sun rising again this morning.

After all, director Jon M. Chu and his brilliant collaborators in front of and behind the camera filmed “For Good” at the same time as the cultural phenomenon that was “Wicked.”

Arriving in theaters only a year after “Wicked,” “For Good” quickly reminds one of both the immense talent of its leads, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and that of behind-the-scenes folks such as production designer Nathan Crowley and costume designer Paul Tazewell, each of whom earned Academy Awards earlier this year for his magical contributions.

If, by chance, you’re playing catch-up, this two-part cinematic event is an adaptation of the beloved stage musical “Wicked,” written by Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Winnie Holzman (book). Loosely adapted from “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, “Wicked” begins as a prequel to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and its 1939 movie adaptation, “The Wizard of Oz.” It eventually runs parallel with the events of that story, recontextualizing characters and offering contemporary social commentary along the way. Both films use Schwartz’s superb songs and boast screenplays by Holzman and Dana Fox (“What Happens in Vegas”).

An expanded version of the stage show’s second act, “Wicked: For Good” picks up with Erivo’s Elphaba now being known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Feared by the citizens of Oz, thanks to propaganda spread by the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (a fun-as-ever Jeff Goldblum) and his magically gifted right-hand woman, Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), Elphaba is being hunted by the Wizard’s forces, led by a friend from her school days, Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey).

Fiyero is set to marry the magically challenged Glinda (Grande), who has taken up with the Wizard and has become the public figure Glinda the Good. However, even as she embraces her new role, complete with a floating mechanical bubble designed to fool the good folks of Oz into believing she does possess the gift of magic, she desperately wants her former bestie, Elphaba, to make peace with Oz’s shady leader.

As scapegoated animals flee Oz, with Elphaba imploring them to remain and fight with her, others are being used in the construction of the soon-to-open Yellow Brick Road.

Elphaba has no intention of changing her mind about the Wizard, but, shortly before the wedding, Glinda tricks her into meeting with him. Things go surprisingly well … but only for a while.

Oz and Morrible then decide to leverage Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), against her. In love with earnest Munchkin Boq (Ethan Slater), who still pines for Glinda, Nessarose isn’t above abusing her newfound power as governor of Munchkinland to get what she wants.

We won’t say more about the story, in case you’re new to these “Wicked” ways, but know that the plot machinations remain as clever as they seemed during the musical’s early days — even if goings-on line up only loosely with those of “The Wizard of Oz.”

The fear here was that the sequel would see some meaningful drop in quality because, as is the case with many works of musical theater, the first act of “Wicked” boasts stronger songs than the second. And if only because nothing in “For Good” reaches the level of Act One closer “Defying Gravity” — done with great gusto in the closing moments of last year’s “Wicked” — the first film does slightly edge out the second. That said, with two solid new songs penned by Schwartz — Glinda’s “The Girl in the Bubble” and Elphaba’s “No Place Like Home” — “For Good” has the goods musically, with the leads and supporting players delivering excellent vocal work.

Perhaps more importantly, the two-part “Wicked” excels where at least some two-part novel adaptations — “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn,” etc. — have failed. Even though each movie tells half the story of the friendship of Elphaba and Glinda, “Wicked” offers a satisfying story arc for the former and “For Good” one for the latter.

While Elphaba hardly takes a backseat in this affair, it is, ultimately, Glinda’s story, and Grande shines in it, taking the character from perky to powerful.

With apologies to the women, Chu probably deserves the most boisterous round of applause. What the director of “Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) and “In the Heights” (2021) has achieved at the helm here is, simply, next-level.

When you scrape away all of that shiny production design and the rest of the dazzling dazzle, Chu, Erivo and Grande have given the world a tale of friendship that should be cherished for years to come.

Consider gravity sufficiently defied.

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‘WICKED: FOR GOOD’

3.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG (for action/violence, some suggestive material and thematic material)

Running time: 2:18

How to watch: In theaters Nov. 21

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