Starring: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, and Zach Braff
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Screenplay by: Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire
ATTENTION!!!!!THIS IS THE REVIEW CORNER SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM!!!!!IF YOU PLAN TO SEE THIS MOVIE, IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO TURN BACK!!!!
People...If you HAVEN'T seen The Wizard of Oz (1939), READ NO FURTHER AND SEE THAT MOVIE RIGHT NOW!!!!!!! Also, you read that correctly. Zach Braff is actually in this movie. Be happy Scrubs fans!
So, everyone wonders about what happens in the land of Oz before Dorothy gets there and about how the man behind the curtain actually got behind the curtain in the first place. Well, my friends, here is your answer.
We find our main character, the carnival wizard known as Oz, performing at a carnival in Kansas. He struggles to make a living as the wizard for the carnival. One day, a twister comes down on the carnival, and takes Oz with it (it's just like Dorothy's story in the black and white portion of The Wizard of Oz). The twister takes Oz to the land of Oz, where he meets Theodora (Mila Kunis) upon his arrival.
He arrives to a peaceful-looking land, only to discover that a dark power, in the form of an evil witch, rules this land and has placed the people in great fear. Everyone has been expecting a great wizard to arrive sometime in the future to rule the land. In order to prove himself the great wizard he is believed to be, he must kill the evil witch. If he defeats the wicked witch, he will become the king of Oz. And so, it is up to Oz to decide if he wants to become a good man, or a great man.
If you've seen The Wizard of Oz, you'll know already how this movie ends without seeing it, but it's quite entertaining to see the back story and how this man became the man behind the curtain.
This is one of the worst cases of bad casting that I've seen in quite some time, with the exception of James Franco. All three of the witches are cast in roles that don't work too well for them. Mila Kunis plays Theodora, soon to become the Wicked Witch of the West. She starts out mostly okay, but is a little underdramatic in her performance. Once she becomes the Wicked Witch, things get worse. Her voice doesn't sound evil enough to be the Wicked Witch of the West. I thought Rachel Weisz would have played the Wicked Witch of the West far better. Nobody can play this quite like Margaret Hamilton does in The Wizard of Oz, but it is clear that Mila Kunis was miscast in this role. This would have been a far better film if she and Rachel Weisz simply had the opposite roles. Michelle Williams is fine as Glinda, but James Franco is hilarious as usual. The role is clearly tailored to him and therefore he fits it very well. He brings a cheesy yet clever humor as Oz, especially towards the end of the film, once he becomes the Wizard of Oz. When he appears to the people of the Emerald City as the wizard, his voice becomes overly epic, so much so, that it becomes hard not to laugh.
The set design and visual effects create an incredibly colorful film. But not all of the film is in color. I like the throwback style to the old film. It adds an element to this film that is unique to The Wizard of Oz. Just like it, this film starts out in black and white, and moves to color as soon as Oz reaches the land of Oz. This transition serves as a wonderful tribute to this classic film.
This film had the potential to make an excellent tribute to the old film, but there are many symbols and motifs missing from this film that are apparent in the old film. Some are missing because they might create issues in the story. Others are missing because Warner Bros., the studio which owns the rights to The Wizard of Oz, wouldn't let Disney use certain things used in the orignal film. According to IMDb, Disney wasn't allowed to use the same shade of green for the Wicked Witch of the West as the shade that was used in the 1939 film, nor could they use the ruby slippers either.
Oz the Great and Powerful has its ups and downs. Parts are decent, and other parts are so cheesy they make you want to laugh. My recommendation is this: Oz fans, go see it. Non Oz fans, you should become Oz fans by seeing the original film. But if you haven't seen the original film, you won't understand a lot of what goes on in this movie.
I give Oz the Great and Powerful a C+.
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Screenplay by: Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire
ATTENTION!!!!!THIS IS THE REVIEW CORNER SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM!!!!!IF YOU PLAN TO SEE THIS MOVIE, IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO TURN BACK!!!!
People...If you HAVEN'T seen The Wizard of Oz (1939), READ NO FURTHER AND SEE THAT MOVIE RIGHT NOW!!!!!!! Also, you read that correctly. Zach Braff is actually in this movie. Be happy Scrubs fans!
So, everyone wonders about what happens in the land of Oz before Dorothy gets there and about how the man behind the curtain actually got behind the curtain in the first place. Well, my friends, here is your answer.
We find our main character, the carnival wizard known as Oz, performing at a carnival in Kansas. He struggles to make a living as the wizard for the carnival. One day, a twister comes down on the carnival, and takes Oz with it (it's just like Dorothy's story in the black and white portion of The Wizard of Oz). The twister takes Oz to the land of Oz, where he meets Theodora (Mila Kunis) upon his arrival.
He arrives to a peaceful-looking land, only to discover that a dark power, in the form of an evil witch, rules this land and has placed the people in great fear. Everyone has been expecting a great wizard to arrive sometime in the future to rule the land. In order to prove himself the great wizard he is believed to be, he must kill the evil witch. If he defeats the wicked witch, he will become the king of Oz. And so, it is up to Oz to decide if he wants to become a good man, or a great man.
If you've seen The Wizard of Oz, you'll know already how this movie ends without seeing it, but it's quite entertaining to see the back story and how this man became the man behind the curtain.
This is one of the worst cases of bad casting that I've seen in quite some time, with the exception of James Franco. All three of the witches are cast in roles that don't work too well for them. Mila Kunis plays Theodora, soon to become the Wicked Witch of the West. She starts out mostly okay, but is a little underdramatic in her performance. Once she becomes the Wicked Witch, things get worse. Her voice doesn't sound evil enough to be the Wicked Witch of the West. I thought Rachel Weisz would have played the Wicked Witch of the West far better. Nobody can play this quite like Margaret Hamilton does in The Wizard of Oz, but it is clear that Mila Kunis was miscast in this role. This would have been a far better film if she and Rachel Weisz simply had the opposite roles. Michelle Williams is fine as Glinda, but James Franco is hilarious as usual. The role is clearly tailored to him and therefore he fits it very well. He brings a cheesy yet clever humor as Oz, especially towards the end of the film, once he becomes the Wizard of Oz. When he appears to the people of the Emerald City as the wizard, his voice becomes overly epic, so much so, that it becomes hard not to laugh.
The set design and visual effects create an incredibly colorful film. But not all of the film is in color. I like the throwback style to the old film. It adds an element to this film that is unique to The Wizard of Oz. Just like it, this film starts out in black and white, and moves to color as soon as Oz reaches the land of Oz. This transition serves as a wonderful tribute to this classic film.
This film had the potential to make an excellent tribute to the old film, but there are many symbols and motifs missing from this film that are apparent in the old film. Some are missing because they might create issues in the story. Others are missing because Warner Bros., the studio which owns the rights to The Wizard of Oz, wouldn't let Disney use certain things used in the orignal film. According to IMDb, Disney wasn't allowed to use the same shade of green for the Wicked Witch of the West as the shade that was used in the 1939 film, nor could they use the ruby slippers either.
Oz the Great and Powerful has its ups and downs. Parts are decent, and other parts are so cheesy they make you want to laugh. My recommendation is this: Oz fans, go see it. Non Oz fans, you should become Oz fans by seeing the original film. But if you haven't seen the original film, you won't understand a lot of what goes on in this movie.
I give Oz the Great and Powerful a C+.
Thanks, Matthew! Your C+ ratifies what opinion I already had formed about this film.
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