Oz: The Great and Powerful; A Review

*Warning this may contain spoilers, but I really tried not to!*       

     

Yesterday I went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful, something I've been waiting for since I heard heard about it. I'm a massive fan of The Wizard of Oz and Return to Oz, even though as a child I really didn't understand why it wasn't the same girl...

Anyways, the director is Sam someone? Who did one of the Tobey Maguire Spiderman films, I think. But applause should really go to the writers and animators. Unless they're not called animators now, CGI-ers doesn't sound right. This film is basically the prequel to The Wizard of Oz from Disney, where we see Oz, a carnival magician get sucked up a tornado (get it, get it?) into the wonderful land of Oz, where he learns of the prophecy that a great wizard will come and save the land. This film explains the back story of the characters, explicitly with Theodora, Oz, Glinda and also other characters, but not-so-subtly.

The Good

I think I really really loved this film as it paid such a good homage to the originals, it wasn't too much and where it was cheesy, like the skipping, it wasn't bad cheese. 

My love for James Franco, I hope, didn't blind me to his charm as Oz. I have so much respect for James Franco as an academic, (I won't get into it, just google) and it was nice to see him in a recent film. I also liked that everyone playing their characters really well, as opposed to when actors just do the same roles over and over again, or changing the character role to fit the actor. But the fact that Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, the entire cast seemed to have given it 100% made the film a lot more enjoyable. It was nice to see Mila Kunis in particular because I think she's a really good actress, but was starting to be typecast.

Last good point would be the storyline that incorporated the old films and showed the audience how it all began. There were quite a few moments when I laughed possibly a bit too loud. I will definitely be looking at whoever did the screenplay. Oh and some of the camera angles reminded me of game-esque movements, like when Oz and Theodora are running, it really got my attention.

The Bad

The only downside which I thought was there was way too much CGI, it looked really good, but at times as a bit too much. I didn't see the film in 3D, as I'm not a fan, but I read a review, somewhere, saying that it is worth it. So perhaps this is why it seemed to much? I don't know. And also, you can always see where the 3D is meant to be in 2D films, and it still looks good. 

Evanora, Rachel Weisz, could have had a bit more, umph, behind her. I get that her character was very villianess and evil but not angry evil? Got better as the film went on. 

The Ugly

You'll see!

4/5 from me. Definitely considering to go and see it again in 3D.

LB