Movie Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful (IMDb score: 7.0, Rotten Tomatoes 61% Fresh)
Director: Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spiderman Trilogy, Drag Me to Hell)
Writer:  Mitchell Kapner (The Whole Nine Yards, Romeo Must Die)
Cast: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz

Attempting to create a prequel to one of the most essential and beloved Hollywood classics of all time seemed to me like a very dangerous undertaking.  Simple to screw up, hard to do well.  Despite this fact, the potential ROI of a film like this is astronomical and that’s what earned it the green light from the studio.  Imagine you’re Disney and you see Alice in Wonderland make over $1 Billion in 2010.  This is solid gold. EDIT: Well, after opening weekend it’s only made $155M worldwide against a budget of $215M so there goes that theory!  It should still make it to $500M. 

Thankfully, I was mostly happy with how Oz played out.  The story is shallow and somewhat underwhelming (like the original Oz when you think about it), but the world Raimi and the production and design teams created is brilliant.  I saw this one in IMAX 3D and it visually blew me away: amazing colors, breathtaking wide shots, and beautiful special effects.  The tornado sequence was intense and stressful, as it should be.  The original score complements the film well, helping to inspire a sense of wide-eyed awe. Overcoming the weaknesses of the plot and characters, if you get something out of incredible visuals, this one is worth seeing. (continues after the jump)

To quote A$AP Rocky, Drake, 2Chainz and Kendrick Lamar:
 I love bad witches that's my f***ing problem

The three witches are all great actresses (ok Mila’s been typecast so far in her career but still) and gorgeous to boot, but Franco is an awful choice.  He has charisma and I empathized with his character’s emotional situation, but a more VIBRANT actor would’ve brought this movie to the next level.  Robert Downey Jr was the initial idea, and it saddens me that this never came to pass.  Theodora and Evanora’s relationship is interesting and Weisz plays it well with a subtle touch of derisive, sinister malice.  Glinda is a pretty bland, innocent character that doesn’t do much for me.  Nevertheless, she is the heart and soul of her people and she does what must be done.  The true value of this film is that it successfully reproduces the sense of wonder and delight as the original, albeit on a lesser scale.  High stakes create tension, and while some of the jokes fall horribly flat others had me chuckling heartily.  If you were worried this would be a travesty, rest easy.  Spectacular visual effects and a charming (if clichéd) narrative make Oz a decent success, although it could and should have aimed for more.  

GRADE: B+