Everyone knows the story of The Wizard of Oz. We all grew up watching the 1939 classic starring Judy Garland as Dororthy, a young girl from Kansas whisked to the land of Oz where she must reach the Wizard in the Emerald City in order to find her way home while trying to outsmart the Wicked Witch of the West. However, how did the Wizard get to Oz? How did he become the great and powerful man that the citizens of Oz know so well? That's the main starting point for Sam Rami's Oz the Great and Powerful, a prequel to L. Frank Baum's works and the classic 1939 film.
The film focuses on Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small time carnival magician from Kansas who dreams of being a great man. One day, while traveling in a hot air balloon, he gets caught up in a tornado which drops him into the wonderful land of Oz. There he meets two witches: Theodora (Mila Kunis) and Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who insist that he's this mighty wizard destined to defeat the Wicked Witch and restore Oz to normalcy. However, once Oscar, or "Oz" as his friends call him, meets Glinda (played by Michelle Williams), he finds that not everything is as it seems.
Now, going into this, I was hesitant. For one thing, in terms of visuals, the film looked like a cut and paste version of 2010's Alice in Wonderland which made Disney a ton of money so I guess they were wanting something similar that would also bring in tons of cash. Also, it was a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, something almost everyone grew up with. Most people associate author L. Frank Baum's world with the 1939 classic so how were they going to tackle this? Despite all these questions, I still kept an open mind. The director of this film, Sam Rami, made the Spider-Man trilogy and the Evil Dead trilogy so I was curious to see how we would do with a family film.
To my complete surprise, I enjoyed this movie greatly. Does it have some problems? Yeah but the good honestly outweighs the bad.
The performances are pretty enjoyable for the most part (I have a problem with one of the actors but more on that later). James Franco looks like he's having a ton of fun in his role as the Wizard. He gives a certain charm to his character and whenever he has a big goofy grin on his face, I couldn't help but smile as well. The three witches were also fun to watch. Michelle Williams, who I swear looks like she doesn't age, was great as Glinda. She makes the character her own version and gives her more of a mystical side. Rachel Weisz was also pretty good as Evanora, she made her character deceptive and conniving and she was just a blast to watch.
As for Mila Kunis....here's the thing I like Mila Kunis. I think shes' an excellent actress. However, I do think she was the weakest link in the cast. That's not to say she was bad in this movie not at all. I just thought she was not as strong as she could have been. She sounds like she's just reading her lines rather than put emotion in. Also the reveal of what her character becomes (which I won't spoil what the reveal is but if you've seen the posters, you know what I'm talking about) I just couldn't get behind because it just seemed like a miscast in my eyes.
The supporting actors were enjoyable to watch as well. Zach Braff plays a flying monkey dressed in a bellhop suit who helps the Wizard on his quest. He had some of the funniest lines in the whole movie. It made me wonder why Zach Braff isn't in more stuff these days. Joey King, who plays a little China doll girl who is incrdibly fragile (literally) was adorable in this. You really manage to feel for this character and the pain she is going through.
Bruce Campbell and his godly chin also show up in this movie....nuff said.
Another thing I really like in this movie is the visuals. The movie looks flat out gorgeous, probably some of the best i've seen all year. Unlike Alice in Wonderland, whose world was dark and gloomy, Oz is what it should have been: bright and vibrant and colorful. The direction is well done as well. Sam Rami maintains his usual sense of quirkiness with the fascinating creature designs and the design of the land itself. Also, having the film open in the original 4:3 ratio and making it black and white like the original and then to expanding to widescreen was a stroke of brilliance
I liked how the film didn't fully rely on the original film to tell their story. They managed to tell their own story without stuffing references from the original in. Yes, there are nice little hints and nods to the original, but they are However, if you go in thinking that the ruby slippers are going to make an appearance, they are not in the film (they legally can't. Warner Bros still owns the rights to The Wizard of Oz so Rami and his team had to essentially go off the source material and make their own little changes i.e. the design of the Emerald City is different, the color of the Witch's skin is different etc).
I will admit the film does have some issues. For one, while the land of Oz looks visually fantastic, there are some moments where the CGI looks really fake and you could notice there was a greenscreen behind them, which took me out of the movie for a bit. Also, it does tend to get a little bit silly at some parts.
But overall, Oz the Great and Powerful was a surprisingly good film. There are some bad moments but the good outweighs the bad. I had a lot of fun with it and I would say if you are looking for a good time at the movies, then check it out. You won't be disappointed.
Grade: B
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