Oz the Great and Powerful

I’ve always quite enjoyed The Wizard of Oz as it’s frankly an amazing feat of cinema given that it came out in 1939 – the switch from black and white to Technicolor is still magical. And the 1985 Return to Oz is another treat, in another whole way: the scariest kids’ film I have ever seen! I’ve also read Gregory MacGuire’s Wicked out of curiosity to see what all the hype was about, although it didn’t persuade me to go and see the musical.

Despite all of this, I’ve never really counted myself as an Oz fan; I’m more of a Narnia girl in general. Still, Oz the Great and Powerful has been on my ‘want to see list’ for 2013 since I heard it was coming out, and whilst I’ve been feeling pretty rundown and tired, I still wanted to see it.

A basic run down of the plot is that it explains how the Wizard came to Oz, and how the witch became wicked. Admittedly the latter part of that plot was a little tenuous and left unresolved in my mind. James Franco plays the Wizard (or Oz as he was actually known) and I spent a lot of the film wondering what else I’d seen him in. I’m still none the wiser, as having Googled it, the only thing he’s credited as being in that I’ve seen was the godawful Pineapple Express, and I’ve blocked that from my memory. The various witches of Oz are played by Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams.

First off, I really enjoyed it. I liked the plot and it was vaguely humorous. I’m sure I’ll be struck down by somebody for saying it was a more likeable plot than Wicked as I found that just too clever-clever. I liked that things weren’t overplayed, like the encounter with the lion, and that some things about the 1939 film are directly referenced.  Franco was alright and I thought Michelle Williams was a perfect Glinda. Also, the use of 3D in the opening credits was frankly the best use of 3D I’ve ever seen; the rest of the film used it pretty much as pointlessly as any other film I’ve ever seen, but the depth on the credits was amazing.

Rachel Weisz was, for me, underused, as her part was very small in the grand scheme of things. Her character wasn’t really developed in the same way that Mila Kunis’s was. However, on the subject of Kunis, I felt she was a little miscast. For me, she’s best when she can be slightly comedic (really good in Friends with Benefits and the best thing about Ted), and her role didn’t allow her to be. She’s too light and fluffy for the frankly iconic role she was given.

Visually, the film was lovely (and how epic is the poster above?!), although I will admit that I’m becoming saddened by the overreliance of film upon CGI so that lavish sets are no longer built. Yes, the Emerald City here was amazing, but look at what Victor Fleming achieved in the Judy Garland classic without any computer effects at all. I liked the addition of China Town, even if the China Girl initially freaked me out. The monkey I could take or leave in all honesty.

This was quite a dark film so I’m surprised it was only rated a PG – definitely some scary moments for children. Actually, scratch that; some scary moments for me.

For me, though, definitely Sam Raimi’s best film.