Movie Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

The opening credits to Oz the Great and Powerful, squeezed into an academy frame and shot in delightful black-and-white 3D, are a real treat to the eye, full of the wonder and magic that the prequel to 1939 The Wizard of Oz is supposed to have in spades. But that’s where the good news for director Sam Raimi ends, and the mess begins.

Based on L. Frank Baum’s 13-volume series of books about Oz, Oz the Great and Powerful begins with carnival magician, liar, and womanizer Oscar Diggs (James Franco), whose stage name is Oz, complaining about the dilapidated surroundings and his falling-apart suit, performing to disenchanted audiences and being under-appreciated (with his big talent and all). He tries to compensate for those misfortunes by chasing every pretty girl that comes his way, and when one such adventure sends an enraged hubby after him, he jumps on a hot air balloon and is carried off to the magical Land of Oz (contemporary frame, Technicolor) via raging twister. (No spoilers here because all of this is apparent from the trailer).

In the land of Oz Oscar gets teamed up with lovely china doll (voiced by Joey King) and a flying CGI monkey (voiced by Zach Braff), both unbearably and unmistakably Disney cute (toys are already up on sites like Amazon.com). Together they have to go through ups and downs of battling it out with the three sisters Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), which is never easy with women, especially as dazzling as this lot. There is a lot of fast-paced, multi-location action as a result, and for viewers under eight, all of that action is bound to bring lots of joy (my six-year-old daughter was afraid of the flying baboons and the scary witch, and this kid has seen Resident Evil: Afterlife, mind you).

For the rest of us, Oz the Great and Powerful will probably be at least a little bit disappointing (like the boring dress Rachel Weisz wore to the Hollywood premier, yawn). First of all, it is too long at 130 minutes (I looked around the theatre and many of the Minsk movie-goers were deep into the hand-held devices glowing in their crotches, but on the plus side Mila Kunis looked very Ukrainian in the film, with the makeup and boobs straight out of a feature that ain’t PG by any standards). Secondly, for an origin story Oz the Great and Powerful has too little of the characters we love so much (the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion do make a short appearance, though). But more importantly, Franco is a problem. Oddly, a great actor, he is unconvincing talking to CGI characters, as if we can actually see he is talking to the air around him; at times it even seems his eyes don’t look at the right spot (he should have taken lessons from young and inexperienced Suraj Sharma of Life of Pi). This is unforgivable in a film that cost $200 million and that’s entire success relies on what the audience believes.

Article Author: Sviatlana Piatakova

A writer, blogger, critic and lyricist from Minsk, Belarus, bitching about music and film, going out with a toddler and working from home, pop culture, sex, feminism, female chauvinism, alter egos, single motherhood, post apocalyptic dystopia and …

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