Director:
Sam Raimi
Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Tony Cox
Rating: Rated PG for sequences of action and scary images, and brief mild language
A small-time magician arrives in an enchanted land and is forced to decide if he will be a good man or a great one.
A prequel to "Wizard of Oz", the thought alone of this movie being made sitrs up some pretty mixed emotions. "Wizard of Oz" getting the hollywood treatment of making an unnecessary movie within the series and completely mimicking the exact same CGI world that Tim Burton created three years ago with "Alice in Wonderland" and made over a billion dollars worldwide with it. Hollywood has since then been trying to reciprocate the sucess with less than stellar fairytale reimaginings with "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters", and "Snow White and the Huntsman" all to no avail. "Wizard of Oz" always felt like an untouchable property to me like "Godfather". Also since Warner Brothers owns the rights to Tinman, Scarecrow, and the Lion I felt this film was always just going to be a cash grab. After seeing "Oz the Great and Powerful" I can say the film was a lot better than I originally thought it was going to be but its also very obvious that this film was a hollywood cash grab first and a film second.
The plot of this film focuses on a carnivale magician (James Franco) who spends his time swindling audiences and other actors out of their money. As trying to escape an angry carny, the magician is caught in a tornado while in a hot air ballon that lifts him all the way to Oz therefore beginning their movie. I don't know a lot about "Wizard of Oz" as it has been a long time since I saw the movie and don't remember that much about it. This film focuses on Oz as his journeny into the man he is in the movie is what the film focuses on. The overall plot of the film was good, it kept you entertain the whole way through especially in the slow parts of the film that were saved by the interactions between the characters who were all pretty much likeable and thats got as much to do with the acting as it does the writing. The main problems I would have with the story is the characterization along the lines of MIla Kunis character of Theodora the Witch that felt pretty cheesy as a subplot and were what I considered the weak parts of the film. The film also had some predictability to it but I wasn't expecting too much in the vein of story and it was still enjoyable enough to look past the predictable parts.
The film is directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman 1,2,3) and for the most part I enjoyed his directing. It was easy to see he was trying to replicate Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" but he did do some different little things throughout the film that were fine. The film is in 3D and I usually opt out to see the film in 2D as 3D is way to overpriced for post converted 3D we usually get but I heard from multiple sources how good the 3D was and I decided to watch it in 3D and it was incredible. This film had the best 3D hands down I had ever seen over "Transformers" and "The Amazing Spiderman." The 3D was so good that I believe if you see the film in 2D you are doing yourself a huge disservice that I feel the film will be knocked down a few notches for you if you see the film in 2D. Especially in scenes when there is a lot of walking the 3D has stuff happen that you want see if you are watching in 2D. Overall the directing of the film was fine as it was nothing spectacular but nothing the dragged the film down either.
The acting of the film was the best part. James Franco was a victim of circumstance as after Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp turned don the role of Oz was he given the role. I believe this is probably his best acting performance since 127 Hours. His on screen charisma is so illuminating that even though the most hokey parts you feel yourself caring for this character the entire time. As stated earlier the characters journey is pretty predictable but his acting lifted the character to more than just a lead character but a completely relatable character. Another standout for me was Michelle Williams ("Blue Valentine" and "My Week with Marilyn") who played Glenda the Goodwitch who had great on screen chemistry with James Franco. She also was insanely likable as she has that time of personality that you cannot hate as she gets along with everyone. Rachel Weisz plays another witch in the movie and she was good as well. Out of the three witches she was given the least to do so she did fine with what she had. Another standout was Zach Braff who did the voice of Findley the Monkey and had some of the best lines of the movie as his interactions with James Franco were also very good. The only weak link in the cast was Mila Kunis as Theodora. She played her character so over the top and really got annoying and took me out of the film when she was on screen. She is attractive but that wasn't even enough to keep me in this time.
Overall I enjoyed "Oz the Great and Powerful" a lot more than I thought it could be. In a world full of hollywood cash grabs this film could have easily have been garbage., but handled right this film featured a nice story with good characters and insanely great acting. Also the 3D is breathtaking and if you don't see the film in that format you are doing yourself a great disservice. The film does have its problems but I feel this a good film that people of all ages can enjoy and see with their famalies and I can't wait to see where they go with the already in-production sequel.
A prequel to "Wizard of Oz", the thought alone of this movie being made sitrs up some pretty mixed emotions. "Wizard of Oz" getting the hollywood treatment of making an unnecessary movie within the series and completely mimicking the exact same CGI world that Tim Burton created three years ago with "Alice in Wonderland" and made over a billion dollars worldwide with it. Hollywood has since then been trying to reciprocate the sucess with less than stellar fairytale reimaginings with "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters", and "Snow White and the Huntsman" all to no avail. "Wizard of Oz" always felt like an untouchable property to me like "Godfather". Also since Warner Brothers owns the rights to Tinman, Scarecrow, and the Lion I felt this film was always just going to be a cash grab. After seeing "Oz the Great and Powerful" I can say the film was a lot better than I originally thought it was going to be but its also very obvious that this film was a hollywood cash grab first and a film second.
The plot of this film focuses on a carnivale magician (James Franco) who spends his time swindling audiences and other actors out of their money. As trying to escape an angry carny, the magician is caught in a tornado while in a hot air ballon that lifts him all the way to Oz therefore beginning their movie. I don't know a lot about "Wizard of Oz" as it has been a long time since I saw the movie and don't remember that much about it. This film focuses on Oz as his journeny into the man he is in the movie is what the film focuses on. The overall plot of the film was good, it kept you entertain the whole way through especially in the slow parts of the film that were saved by the interactions between the characters who were all pretty much likeable and thats got as much to do with the acting as it does the writing. The main problems I would have with the story is the characterization along the lines of MIla Kunis character of Theodora the Witch that felt pretty cheesy as a subplot and were what I considered the weak parts of the film. The film also had some predictability to it but I wasn't expecting too much in the vein of story and it was still enjoyable enough to look past the predictable parts.
The film is directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman 1,2,3) and for the most part I enjoyed his directing. It was easy to see he was trying to replicate Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" but he did do some different little things throughout the film that were fine. The film is in 3D and I usually opt out to see the film in 2D as 3D is way to overpriced for post converted 3D we usually get but I heard from multiple sources how good the 3D was and I decided to watch it in 3D and it was incredible. This film had the best 3D hands down I had ever seen over "Transformers" and "The Amazing Spiderman." The 3D was so good that I believe if you see the film in 2D you are doing yourself a huge disservice that I feel the film will be knocked down a few notches for you if you see the film in 2D. Especially in scenes when there is a lot of walking the 3D has stuff happen that you want see if you are watching in 2D. Overall the directing of the film was fine as it was nothing spectacular but nothing the dragged the film down either.
The acting of the film was the best part. James Franco was a victim of circumstance as after Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp turned don the role of Oz was he given the role. I believe this is probably his best acting performance since 127 Hours. His on screen charisma is so illuminating that even though the most hokey parts you feel yourself caring for this character the entire time. As stated earlier the characters journey is pretty predictable but his acting lifted the character to more than just a lead character but a completely relatable character. Another standout for me was Michelle Williams ("Blue Valentine" and "My Week with Marilyn") who played Glenda the Goodwitch who had great on screen chemistry with James Franco. She also was insanely likable as she has that time of personality that you cannot hate as she gets along with everyone. Rachel Weisz plays another witch in the movie and she was good as well. Out of the three witches she was given the least to do so she did fine with what she had. Another standout was Zach Braff who did the voice of Findley the Monkey and had some of the best lines of the movie as his interactions with James Franco were also very good. The only weak link in the cast was Mila Kunis as Theodora. She played her character so over the top and really got annoying and took me out of the film when she was on screen. She is attractive but that wasn't even enough to keep me in this time.
Overall I enjoyed "Oz the Great and Powerful" a lot more than I thought it could be. In a world full of hollywood cash grabs this film could have easily have been garbage., but handled right this film featured a nice story with good characters and insanely great acting. Also the 3D is breathtaking and if you don't see the film in that format you are doing yourself a great disservice. The film does have its problems but I feel this a good film that people of all ages can enjoy and see with their famalies and I can't wait to see where they go with the already in-production sequel.
FINAL GRADE: B
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