(Movie Review) Oz The Great and Powerful

The Yellow Brick Road turns out to be made of gold, as OZ rakes in the cash on opening weekend

In yet another assault on my masculinity, I have to admit to you fine folks that I am a huge fan of Oz. The Wizard of Oz, Return to Oz, The Wiz, Wicked and Tin Man are amazing little pieces of fiction in my opinion. But with the exception of the original Wizard of Oz film, most of the other Oz related titles have been made for TV movies, musicals or miniseries. So the question I have always wondered was “would Hollywood make a film that rivals the original and ACTUALLY make it profitable”? While the question is still out on this film ultimately being profitable, I don’t think that it completely measures up to the original…but it is a heck of a good movie regardless.

Storyline: Carnival conman Oz (Franco) is tired of the carnival world. He wants more out of life. He doesn’t want to settle for being a good man, he wants to be a great man. When a tornado whisks him away to the Land of Oz he is quickly greeted by Theodora (Kunis) and she tells him that he must be the powerful wizard that the prophecies had promised them. Theodora introduces Oz to her sister, Evanora (Weisz), who quickly sends Oz to kill the “Wicked Witch” Glinda (Williams) before he can become king and inherit all of the gold of Oz. With new companions met along the way, and finding Glinda to be a kind and gentle witch, Oz must work with her to find out who the real evil witch is and how to bring her down.

Worth the admission? Without a doubt! This movie was really fun and the performance from Michelle Williams as Glinda was great. And Zach Braff as the voice for a flying monkey named Finely was adorable. Was it a perfect movie? No. There are a few things that I really didn’t like. One, James Franco makes a fine enough Oz, but the way that the character is played makes him so unlikeable. That is the fault of the writers, obviously, but it is not until very late in the movie that you actually begin to like the character some.

Another thing that I didn’t really like was the fact that The Wizard of Oz (1939) gave you an option at the end. You could either pick to believe that Dorothy had a very beautiful and lucid dream OR that she went to a magical new world. This movie confirms that the events in The Wizard of Oz were real, which kiiiind of makes the choice to have actors play dual roles (in both films) seem pointless.

Lastly, if the Wicked Witch is pained by water, and there is a scene in this film where tears cause her pain, wouldn’t she just burn up from the inside? Her body is, what, 75% water?

All in all, good movie. Very fun and very beautiful. Try to see it in 3D!