Oz the Great and Powerful

There are a lot of sequel/prequel haters out there. But what about a prequel that comes out 60+ years after the original? Oz the Great and Powerful tells the story of the famous Wizard before the events of Dorothy and company in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz. James Franco plays Oz, a magician/con-artist in a travelling circus. But while trying to make a quick escape in a hot air balloon, he encounters that famous Kansas tornado and gets transported to the mystical land, which shares his name. He then gets drawn in to a prophecy that places him as the king of Oz and a feud between three witch sisters.

Since the original film is a MGM property and this new incarnation is from Disney, there needed to be some differences between the two visually. To be honest, they’re hardly visible throughout, though. L. Frank Baum’s novels fall in the public domain, so all that content is fair game. Franco isn’t very likeable, which is kind of the desired response to the character. Except the charm that the wizard supposedly has is completely hypothetical. The audience hardly sees that. As for the witches, Michelle Williams does well with Glinda, who could have been an overly cheerful and annoying character. Rachel Weisz plays the most interesting of the witches with Evanora who has some depth while controlling the iconic flying monkeys. But as for Mila Kunis, not so much. She’s merely adequate in the beginning of the film, but quickly declines for the rest. Next to Weisz and Williams, she appears to be quite amateur.

Visually, director Sam Raimi creates quite the digital world. Certain settings like the Emerald City are incredible achievements, while other landscapes like the swamp setting where the wizard initially crashes, are too glossy to believe. Once a visual element is extreme to the point that the viewer realizes their watching actors on a sound stage, there’s no turning back. Maybe the young viewers enjoying the escape of a wildly ambitious, yet successful, fantasy film don’t notice, but adults sure do. Oz the Great and Powerful shows another successful brand fall in line with Disney as a likely franchise starter. But it’s interesting to know that if you take the stereotypical look of the Wicked Witch of the West and place her in a 2013 film, she looks weird. I guess the entire original isn’t as timeless as people think.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.