Oz The Great and Powerful

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Oz The Great and Powerful (which will be referred to as OGP from here on out) is the type of movie where I am not sure what audiences were expecting. Hell, I'm not even sure I knew what I was expecting. Was this supposed to be some sort of faithful prequel with silly characters and lighthearted song and dance numbers? Or was Disney aiming for a new Pirates of the Caribbean type film that boasts a charismatic main character and is just a "fun" movie? Maybe perhaps they were trying to do what most studios are these days and tell a "darker" more Christopher-Nolan-esque story of a beloved world? 

Like I said, I really had no idea what to expect and Im not sure anyone really did. And the result is honestly somewhat of a mixture of the aforementioned scenarios, which sounds either like a disaster or like a top-of-the-year blockbuster. As it turns out, OGP succeeds more often than it fails making it an entertaining romp through a world once forgotten that also annoys the audience with its inability to lock-in on any specific tone. 

The world of Oz looks AMAZING. Raimi and crew have knocked it out of the park as far as special effects are concerned.

For starters, the world of Oz looks better than I had imagined it would. I'm not sure who is doing the special effects at Disney these days, but between this movie and The Avengers from last year, I have had my jaw drop on numerous occasions. With the budget that they are planning for the new Star Wars trilogy, it might as well just look real. But anyways, Oz is gorgeous, especially in 3D, which is how I recommend the movie be seen. There are several instances where the nature shots alone are worth the extra admission and there are some really fun 3D "gimmicks" throughout the movie. My theater was filled mainly with senior citizens and they were having a blast, with one guy next to me even reaching out and trying to grab some of the floating particles in one scene! So funny! There are certainly times where actors are clearly on green screen, many of which are given away by Mila Kunis (who I will discuss more later), but for the most part, these interactions with not-real environments or not-real characters are believable. James Franco does a great job interacting with many CG characters throughout the movie so kudos to him on that challenge. Speaking of CG characters...

I told you Oz looks amazing. Just one of the many scenes where 3D was mesmerizing.

China Girl and Finley: impressive characters with
equally as impressive CG animation. These are
certainly no "Tin Man" costumes...

I loved the additional CG characters in this movie. Finley the flying monkey (no, not the bad type) is voiced by Zach Braff and provides the best comedic relief in the film. I had several hard chuckles to his introduction of the wizard and his thoughts on bananas in particular. Another CG character, who looked incredible, was China Girl. She is made entirely of fine china and the detail of her character is immense and really impressive. She instantly won my heart in one of those so-cute-you-have-to-love-them type of ways and ultimately ended up being a good, worthwhile character. The human characters fair a little less fortunately. As a lead, Franco does really well here, but I just never totally supported his character. Even at the end, I still kind of got a sleazebag vibe from the guy and despite the fact that he was written as a character who lived in 1905, he talks as if it was modern day. Not to say that he uses modern day slang or anything, but just that I feel like his character would have been more appropriate had the script been written with 1905 in mind. That might just be me though. Regardless, Franco does well with what he is given. Michelle Williams is easily the best out of the three witches as Glinda the Good and her script is well done as it conveys innocence and a hint of desperation given the times that Oz is currently in. Not to mention she is gorgeous. Rachel Weisz does just OK as Evanora. I am specifically staying away from plot details about the movie because I dont want to ruin any of the surprises, but ultimately I found Evanora to be a forgettable character who is often overshadowed. Lastly, we have Mila Kunis. And trust me when I say that it pains me to say this about one of Hollywood's most beautiful leading ladies, but she is horribly miscast here. Once again, I don't want to give away anything, but every time she was on screen I felt like she didn't belong. Especially about halfway through the movie. God bless Mila Kunis, and shame on the casting crew for choosing her for this role. It just doesn't work. Period. 

A witch that can summon sparkle fog...she must have been hiding
in every Twilight movie!!!

I love you Mila! Please don't be angry!
(As her and James Franco plot my demise)

It's funny because even still, I am confused with OGP. It was a movie that was completely unnecessary. Do we really need a prequel to a timeless movie that was made over 70 years ago? I would like to think that we do not. But at the same time, I still had a lot of fun with it because of the world of Oz. Without all of the little homages to the original sprinkled throughout, a lot of the charm would have been lost and this would have been just a slightly-above average fantasy tale. Even more confusing is the tone that the movie is trying to convey, and this is where my biggest problem lies with the film. At times, it wants you to feel like it is a classic, old-time movie. It's even in black and white for the first 20 minutes or so. Then at other times it has a lightheartedness to it. One where kids of all ages can be happy and glide along with the bubbly story. Other moments posed a Lord of the Rings-like darkness over things...there were dangerous creatures, ominous music, and it seemed like all hope was lost permanently. There are probably one or two more tone shifts that I am missing, but you get the point. The big problem is that while OGP doesn't flat out fall on its face in any of these cases, it doesn't excel at any of them either. Instead, it ended somewhere in the middle; winning me over with its "fun" and "clever" tones and losing me with its "darker" and "intense" tones.

But I fear that not even the great Wizard of Oz himself could have blended so many angles together...maybe in the sequel?

Pros:

• The CG and SFX are fantastic. The world of Oz is magical once again and truly comes to life in 3D. Even the CG characters look great
• James Franco and Michelle Williams are the best human cast members by far. Franco's character isn't all that likable, but the guy is talented nonetheless
• China Doll and Finley are great characters. I loved both of them. One because she was adorable and the other because he was hilarious
• The story is dragged out too much (the movie is over 2 hours long), but I was really interested to see the backstory of Oz based on previously written novels. It is a world that has a lot of rich lore. I also really enjoyed the nods to the original 
• There are essentially three parts to the ending. I loved part 1 because it pays a huge homage back to the original, thought part 2 was stupid, and liked part 3 just because it wrapped everything up nicely
• The original score has its moments, though it is largely standard fare
• All in all, it's better than I expected it would be, which is a small, but nice surprise

Cons:

• There are just too many tones in the movie. As an avid movie goer, I was irratated by this at the worst of times and confused as to what the filmmakers were doing at the best of times. The film works better when it is light with a touch of dark. The areas where it goes really dark just do not fit the movie
• Honestly, this movie is completely unnecessary and that is a fact that I cannot overlook
• It has a lot to do with the original movie, but feels nothing like it
• Mila Kunis is very miscast...like, probably one of the most miscast characters in recent memory. Not her fault at all, but it just stuck out like a humongous sore thumb
• Despite the great CGI, the Wicked Witch of the West looks TERRIBLE. Particularly her face. It basically looks like they painted the actress green and glued an obviously fake nose on her...something I feel like would have been the norm in 1939 when the original came out

Rath's Review Score: 7.5/10