Review - Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz Strays From The Yellow Brick Road

The Wizard of Oz is a classic film that will always live in our hearts. But what happened before Dorothy arrived in Oz? That is the tale that is told in Oz the Great and Powerful.

Oscar (James Franco)is a magician that is part con man, part showman and all ladies man. As a magician he is struggling to make ends meet on the carnival circuit. As he travels from town to town he needs to bring the crowds in, entertain them and find a new lady at every turn.

But while visiting with the one that he really cared for, a tornado rolls into town and he takes off in a hot air balloon to get away from an irate father, but that get away is soon confronted by the tornado and he is whisked away to the magical land of Oz.

Oscar’s first encounter is with Theodora (Mila Kunis). She seems nice enough and helps Oscar find his way in this way too unfamiliar territory. There is the belief that Oscar is the one that was sent to help them defeat the evil in Oz.

But Theodora’s sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) is not interested in defeating the evil in Oz, because she is controlling much of that evil. But as Oscar soon finds out, it is the journey to fight the perceived problem child that leads him to Glinda (Michelle Williams) the good witch.

Who will be successful? Sure we know that answer…but how is the fun part.

Oz the Great and Powerful has immediate name recognition going for it, but that can be a bad thing too. The name recognition carries with it an expectation level that might be higher than it should be. That was the case, on my behalf, with this film.

Unfortunately, Oz suffers from the “b” word for much of the early part of the film. It is just boring as it sets the stage for the rest of the journey. We are to be intrigued and interested in the setup from discovering the “wicked” witches and their origin to seeing the variety of Oz inhabitants. We should be invested in the “goodness” of Glinda and turning against Evanora and Theodora. But instead, I felt we just dragged ourselves through a murky beginning, part of which led to the overly long 2 hours 10 minutes running time.

But it doesn’t stick like that, fortunately. Instead it does find a way to bring it back around and not totally go in the tank. After a slow start, the concluding third of the movie is solid and will make you almost forget what you’ve been through for the previous 80 minutes. I said almost.

I like the actors, I like the characters, I like the visuals and I’m willing to go to Oz again with this group. I just hope that next time we feel less like sleeping in the poppies and more like the excitement of the man behind the curtain.

B-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Oz the Great and Powerful                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Walt Disney Pictures

Director:Sam  Raimi

Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams

Rating: PG for sequences of action and scary images and brief mild language.

Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes