Oz: The Great and Powerful Review

Oz: The Great and Powerful Review – Possible Spoilers

 Oz: The Great and Powerful is a prequel to the classic film The Wizard of Oz. It stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz. James Franco plays a earth born magician named Oscar who is transported via tornado to the wonderful world of Oz. Upon arriving he is met by Theodora who is played by Kunis. She tells Oscar of how it is prophecy that a great wizard would come to rescue them from the reign of the Wicked Witch. Oscar tells Theodora that he is indeed the wizard, after finding out the prophecy says that he will be crowned king after killing the witch. I try not to spoil movies too much in my reviews so to sum it up Oscar goes on an adventure, meets some characters along the way, isn’t exactly the best guy to people, those people get mad at him and become the real enemy.

When you think of some of the greatest films ever made The Wizard of Oz will 9 times out of 10 be mentioned. It was an incredibly huge film for a time when film making was just beginning. To think that The Wizard of Oz was filmed in 1939 is mind boggling given how watchable it still is today. That everlasting beauty and depth within the world of Oz is something that makes it a true classic right up there with Star Wars. Oz: The Great and Powerful doesn’t capture that same magic that the original did. Although a well crafted and beautiful film, it failed to expand Oz in anyway that felt satisfying. The special effects are good in Oz but when 90% of what you’re seeing isn’t real, it is hard to believe that it is. This somehow manages to make Oz feel more like a cartoon than an actual place that may exist.

The performances were very good in the movie  and there are some real lovable characters in the film. The relationship between Oscar and a flying monkey he meets is enough comic relief to keep you interested in whats happening. On the other hand, some characters seemed completely unnecessary. Once again it is hard not to compare to the original characters and how meaningful they were to the story. The chemistry between Dorothy, the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin man is something like the casting of the show Friends. If it had of been different, it wouldn’t have worked. Where as in The Great and Powerful, Oscar and The Monkey are the only characters that seem to generate that chemistry, leaving a slew of characters just thrown into the mix. Also having 3 different witches seemed unnecessary. I know this is a prequel and there were 3 witches in the original (one being killed off by Dorothy’s house) but it just felt like a bit much. This might have been why I felt the story became overkill at times because of the extra characters that needed to have a story told.

Oz: The Great and Powerful is a beautiful Computer Generated movie, if you like special effects you might enjoy the film more than I did. It isn’t bad but if you go in expecting something as magical as the original you will be let down. If they continue to make sequels of The Great and Powerful than it might be good as its own stand alone trilogy but it does not have enough magic to maintain the same longevity as the original.

Final Rating: 7

– Payback009