Oz: The Great and Powerful Movie

It is dangerous to use classic stories in telling new stories. The Wizard of OZ is a film standard revolutionalizing film and bring color to its own on-screen.  The children stories are beloved by many.  Knowing this you need to bring your A-game to pass fandom muster.  This film checks all the boxes and has the right touches of CGI, and each character does a good job of playing their parts.  I wish the story was just as magical.

As a family-friendly move, younger ones may be scared as there are some intense battle scenes, it's an adequate film. However, the main character, Oscar Diggs (James Franco), is not good.  I mean that he is flawed and in ways that are not charming or engaging.  He is a charlatan and a scoundrel.  He only improves himself because he is trapped in OZ and now needs to defeat the two evil witch sisters.  His change of heart is only because he wants to survive. 

Theodora (Mila Kunis) has the potential to become a strong character, but she is a shallow set dressing who falls for Oz quickly and because of her heartbreak (with the help of a magic apple) turns evil.  Evanora (Rachel Weisz)  is a villain of the highest order as she manipulates events and turns her sister, Theodora, in the green-skinned witch we know. Both roles are played perfectly but written flatly.

Michell Williams has a dual role as Annie, Oscar's love interest in Kansas and also Glinda, the good witch.  This detail seems too convenient I am sure they are calling back to the original in that Dorthy's real acquaintances become characters. She plays it well but again is written with a one note instead of having more depth.

Maybe my problem is that all of the females are there to move Oscar on his journey of "discovery."

The writer Micthell Kapner has had a string of films that met a mixture of reviews, my favorite is The Whole 9 yards, but this one seems to be one of the flat ones. The characters are not very engaging, plus it seems to rush from element to element.  It will get good box office return because of the family film aspects, but It may not rate a sequel.

What makes it troubling is that it does nothing to expand the original story, but it also doesn't do enough to stand out as a new product.  This product is just a yellow light kind of film.  Not good enough to be outstanding but not bad enough to be a bad movie.  The writing rises to the level of fan fiction.

Sam Raimi has a stunning eye for fantastical and mythic characters, and he has to have Bruce Campbell in every film.  His cameo is as a guard this round according to the credits.  He needs to be a square on the Sam Raimi bingo card. A game played by writing down some of the tropes and signature shots of a director on several cards and you play bingo.

My take away from this film is that it is eye cotton candy, looks good on the screen but once consumed it melts away leaving a sweet taste that is quickly forgotten. You should just go watch Wicked you'll have a better time.