Oz the Great and Powerful

Plot synopsis:
Oscar Diggs (James Franco) is an ambitious illusionist/con man employed by a midwestern traveling circus. Despite being greatly ambitious, Oscar's magic career isn't taking off. His illusions are cheap, his suits are torn and patched, and he's barely making enough money to keep his head above water. Frank (Zach Braff), Oscar's circus assistant, barges into Oscar's caravan as he puts the moves on his latest magician's assistant May (Abigail Spencer). He produces a small wooden music box, which he claims once belonged to his great-grandmother, and gives it to May as a token of his love. Frank reminds Oscar, (or Oz, as he's known), that his next show is about to begin. Frank hands Oz the show's cash takings: an old hat filled with a dozen quarters and nickels. Oz reluctantly plucks a pair of coins from the hat and gives them to Frank, and pockets the rest. Frank is unhappy with how Oz treats him.The magic show begins with Oz striding out onto the stage in a mystical, quasi-oriental robe and turban A young girl in a wheelchair in the front row (Joey King) watches in awe as Oz calls for a volunteer. A dozen hands shoot up, but none belong to May, Oz's assistant and ringer for the show. Oz finally calls May to the stage, much to the bewilderment of the crowd, and she takes the stage. Backstage, Frank produces all of the practical effects for the show: playing music, setting off pyrotechnics, etc. On stage Oz puts May into a deep sleep and causes her unconscious body to float in mid air. An irate voice shouts something from the back: "I see a wire!" Another voice joins in: "Yeah! I see two of 'em!" Bright lights are cast onto the stage, and sure enough, two very visible wires are seen suspending May's body from the ceiling "I want my money back you fraud!" Oz gestures to Frank, who tosses him a scimitar. Oz flicks the scimitar between his hands and then violently cuts the visible wires.... but May remains floating. The crowd gasps and Oz, for the finale, whips the silk sheet off of May's body, revealing empty air. The crowd applauds in unison, and Oz happily accepts the "Bravos!" and "Encores!", and then a small voice cuts through the cheers: "Make me walk!" All goes silent. The little girl in the front row, in the wheelchair, pushes herself toward the stage and repeats her pleas "Please, Wizard. Make me walk!" Oz, caught off guard by the unscripted request, seeks a diplomatic or heartfelt response, but all that comes out is "I'm not that kind of wizard, kid." The crowd turns on him, booing and hissing. Oz, who is now being pelted by popcorn and peanut shells, tells Frank to close the curtains.Outside, the circus-folk are hurriedly packing up the traveling circus as gray clouds swirl above them. Frank takes Oz aside and tells him that a certain lady-friend is waiting for him in his caravan. He sidesteps the chaos, enters his caravan and is surprised to see a young blonde woman, and not May, waiting for him. This is Annie (Michelle Williams); one of Oz's old romances he met on the road. She's come to see Oz because another man proposed to her and she wanted to tell him first. The pair's chemistry is obvious, but Oz's philandering has ruined anything they might have had. Outside, May watches as another brunette, close to her age, bursts out of a tent holding a music box identical to the one Oz gave her. She swiftly realizes that Oz used her. Seconds later an angry strong-man, the woman's husband, comes bursting out of the tent, hell-bent on tearing Oz a new one. The strong-man crashes through Oz's caravan wall and chases Oz all through the fairground. Oz manages to sneak aboard a readied hot air balloon and escape the clutches of the strong-man. As he soars away Frank throws Oz his hat and magician's bag, filled with his various illusionary instruments. From above Oz watches as all the circus folk fearfully run away, and then he sees it: a massive tornado which is sucking him in. Oz pins himself as tightly as possible into the balloon's basket as the entire contraption is violently whipped back-and-forth inside the tornado.After nearly being impaled dozens of times, Oz and the balloon escape the violent winds of the twister and emerge in the colorful, widescreen World of Oz. Oz and the balloon luckily avoid hitting the giant mountains surrounding them, but the balloon ultimately crashes, and Oz unceremoniously lands in a shallow river. Oz, bewildered, finds himself surrounded with gigantic sentient plants and small mischievous fairies which peck at his legs. He calls out for help, and through the bushes appears the beautiful and alluring Theodora (Mila Kunis). Theodora answers him and Oz, struck by her beauty, puts on the charm. He tells her that his name is Oz, and she is shocked -- the prophecy foretold that a wizard named Oz (the name of their land) would return to Oz and save them from the Wicked Witch. Oz, jokes that all witches must be green, warted, and must ride a broom, to which Theodora responds "but I'm a witch." She explains that there are good witches and wicked witches, and that she is simply a good witch. Mysterious growling echoes from the forest nearby and Theodora, recognizing the sound of the Wicked Witch's minions tells Oz to hide. The pair disappear into an alcove and watch as a frightening winged howler monkey swoops in and searches for them. Oz, thinking quickly, reaches into his top hat and retrieves a white dove which he releases into the air. The howler monkey, seeing the bird, flies off after it. Oz and Theodora escape and begin their trek to the Emerald City.Oz uses his charms to appeal to Theodora, and she soon falls in love with him. She tells him that as the new Wizard of Oz, he will soon become the land's new king and that, if he will allow it, she will be his queen. As a token of his love, Oz gives Theodora a wooden music box -- the same type of box given to May and countless other women he met over the years. The pair walks toward the Emerald City and soon come across a winged Capuchin monkey tangled in a mass of man eating plants. Theodora implores that Oz help the monkey and Oz, eager to impress his new girl, frees the monkey, named Finley (Zach Braff) from the weeds. Oz soon realizes that the plants were not the true threat. A massive lion appears, about to pounce on Oz and Finley. Oz, without thinking, reaches into his jacket pocket and tosses a handful of powder to the ground. Thick red smoke explodes from the ground and frightens the cowardly lion away. Theodora, now convinced that Oz is the true wizard of the prophecy, hugs him. Finley, thankful for Oz's intervention, offers his servitude to Oz for life. Finley explains that as a debtor to Oz, he must do anything and everything Oz says. Oz immediately tells the shocked Finley that he is not the Wizard that Theodora thinks that he is. He's just a con man, with a few illusions and tricks up his sleeve. Finley is disappointed to hear this news, but doesn't tell Theodora. Oz hands his heavy bag to Finley and tells him to follow them. The trio soon meets a large caravan of horses and soldiers along a yellow-brick road. Their leader, Knuck (Tony Cox) does not believe Oz is the great wizard Theodora says he is. Oz talks down to Knuck, calls him "sour puss" and tells him to obey his king. Oz and Theodora jump into a carriage and are whisked away to the Emerald City. Inside the city Theodora introduces Oz to her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) -- a young brunette witch with a green sapphire necklace around her neck. Both wise and beautiful, Evanora looks at Oz with skepticism. She and Theodora take him to the throne room, which Oz treats with little reverence. Evanora chides the gullible Theodora for believing that Oz was the wizard from the prophecy, but agrees to humor Oz until she can fully prove that he's a fraud.Evanora takes Oz to the King's vault: a massive chamber overflowing with gold and riches, all property of the King of Oz. Oz excitedly dives into the piles of gold while the ever skeptical Evanora looks on. She reminds Oz that the vault is the property of the King of Oz, which he will be only when he kills the Wicked Witch. Oz, realizing that his Kingship comes with strings attached, drops the gold and begins to believe that he'll never be king. Evanora soothes him and explains that killing the Wicked Witch won't be difficult. All that's required is breaking her wand; break the wand, kill the witch, that's it. Bolstered by this new found information, Oz readies himself to go find the witch.With Finley in tow, Oz heads off to the dark woods to find and kill the Wicked Witch. Along the way the pair happens across a recently devastated town. The entire city is made of porcelain: porcelain houses which look like gigantic teapots, porcelain trees, and porcelain residents. It's all too spooky. They hear crying inside one of the few still-standing houses. Inside they find a tiny, young porcelain girl who, after the attack, was broken. Her legs were separated from her body, and she's unable to move. Oz comforts the China Girl (Joey King) and produces, from his bag, a small bottle of instant-dry glue. He repairs her shattered legs and helps her get to her feet. She happily thanks Oz and Finley and tags along with them on their journey. The trio comes to a fork in the road; turn left for the Emerald City, turn right for the dark woods. Oz tells the China Girl to walk to the Emerald City and tell Evanora that she is a friend of Oz. The China Girl throws a fit, and refuses to leave Oz as her family and friends are broken and dead, and he's the only friend she's got. Oz allows the China Girl to follow them to the dark woods.The Dark Woods are frightening. Twisted, violent plants try to impale the trio as they make their way deeper into the forest. They finally come to a cemetery and see a dark, hooded figure trying to enter. They quickly realize that the figure must be the Wicked Witch, and watch as the figure carefully places its wand onto a pile of boxes nearby. While Finley distracts the figure, Oz sneaks over to the wand, takes it and is about to break it in two when a soothing voice stops him. The hooded figure unveils herself, revealing a beautiful blonde face beneath it, identical to Annie (Michelle Williams). She introduces herself as Glinda and explains that the true Wicked Witch is back at the Emerald City. Evanora, years ago, sought to rule Oz by herself and killed their father, the King, so she could rule uncontested. When rumors swelled that the Wizard of Oz would return and take his place as King, Evanora vowed to never let that happen. She'd trick the Wizard into killing the sister who opposed her, Glinda, and then kill the Wizard herself so that she could rule Oz forever. When Glinda learned of Evanora's treachery, she left the Emerald City and spent every day at her father, the King's, grave. Back in Emerald City Evanora watches, in her crystal ball, as her plans to kill Glinda failed. Angered, Evanora sends out her armies to stop and kill Oz and Glinda. Back in the graveyard, the quartet of Oz, Glinda, Finley and China Girl hear the stomping of boots approaching. Evanora's army marches through the graveyard, intent on killing them. Glinda pleads with Oz to do something magical to stop the army and Oz, being nothing more than a con man illusionist, asks her to take care of it. She takes her wand and draws thick fog out of the ground, blinding the army of Winkies and baboons. The quartet finds themselves at the end of a cliff, hanging over a bottomless pit and Glinda, with no other option, leaps off the cliff. With the army quickly approaching Finley, China Girl, and finally Oz fall after her. The four appear, moments later in gigantic floating soap bubbles, which send them flying miles away. In the distance, Oz sees and inquires about a small city encapsulated within a giant, soapy bubble. Gilda explains that the bubble is a protective barrier, which keeps out anybody with evil or malcontent in their heart. Oz, being both slightly evil and malicious himself, fears that he won't be able to get through. Glinda, Finley and China Girl easily glide through the bubble barrier, and Oz, after bouncing off the of barrier a few times, is finally able to squeak through.In Emerald City, Evanora is not pleased with Oz and Glinda escaping her grasp. She concocts a plan. She invites Theodora into her quarters and magically produces a small wooden music box identical to the one Oz gave Theodora. Theodora, upon seeing the music box, is hurt by Oz's presumed betrayal and returns to her room. She sits in front of her vanity mirror and cries. Her tears are like acid, etching permanent burns into her skin.Glinda introduces Oz to the people of the quaint city within the bubble: farmers, tinkerers, munchkins, etc. They all live in innocent, unspoilt happiness and are very excited to meet and hear from the wizard of myth and prophecy. Oz, now convinced that his rouse has gone too far takes Glinda aside and explains that he is not a real magician. He's a fake, a charlitan, an illusionist who can't perform real magic. Glinda, to Oz's surprise, admits that she knows. She knew from the moment she first met him, but just because she knows doesn't mean that the townspeople need to. With this new information, Oz puts on a show of confidence, convincing the townspeople that he is the wizard they hoped would return to destroy the Wicked Witch.Theodora's anger at Oz is at a boiling point, as is evidenced by her severely disfigured, acid-burnt face. Evanora, now in total control of Theodora convinces Theodora to follow along with her plan and become more powerful than any wizard ever. Evanora produces a small, green apple and tells Theodora that the apple will give her the power to kill Oz. She bites into the apple and soon keels over. Her skin darkes, her voice deepens, and her silhouette grows tall and evil. Theodora grabs a black brimmed hat and laughs maniacally. A mysterious storm cloud appears over Glinda and Oz's town. A red-hot light at the center of the cloud pounds against the "impenetrable" bubble surrounding the town. The cloud pounds against the bubble again and again until it breaks like an egg. The red-hot light beams into the city, landing like a meteor in the town square. A glowing evil figure emerges from the crater -- it's Theodora, transfigured into a green-skinned, black-suited old witch. She confronts Oz, and explains that she has become a truly Wicked Witch because of his treachery. She steals a broom from a townsperson and rides away, leaving a trail of black smoke behind her. Amidst the chaos, Glinda searches for Oz, but finds that he's run off. She confronts him in his quarters, where he's quickly packing his bags for a hasty escape. Glinda tries giving Oz the confidence to believe in himself, and to look past the fact that he's not a real wizard. Through soul-searching, Oz formulates a plan. He tells Glinda to gather the town's smartest and strongest. Oz meets with the town's Master Tinker (Bill Cobbs) and his men, the appointed scientists of the city, and together they plan an illusion to trick Theodora and Evanora. Under Oz's guidance the townspeople create elaborate mechanisms for the show. Oz shows the tinkers how to create a movie projector, how to create black powder, and finally how to build a hot-air balloon. Oz asks the head Tinker to keep the balloon a secret. He and Glinda, together, form a battle plan. They look at a map of the Emerald City and its outlying areas. Oz suggests that they enter the city through the Poppy fields, but Glinda explains that the poppy fields will put anyone who breaths in their spores, into an inescapable deep sleep. Oz thinks of a way to use this to their advantage. Finally, Glinda reveals that she has a contact to get them into the city unnoticed. Knuck, AKA Sour puss, appears and reveals himself to be their inside man.The assault on Emerald City begins. Oz, along with Knuck and other munchkins, disguise themselves and sneak past an unwitting Winkie Gate Keeper (Bruce Campbell). They sneak the carriage, filled with the projection equipment and Oz's balloon, into the city. As soon as they pass through the gate, Oz separates himself from the group, with the balloon, and sneaks up to the King's vault, and begins filling the hot-air balloon's basket with gold. Down on the ground, Finley, Knuck and the Master Tinker see that Oz has betrayed them, in favor of escaping with a balloon full of gold, but continue with the plan. Out at the edge of the city Glinda casts a spell which sends thick fog across the landscape. Theodora and Evanora, distracted by the thick blanket of fog, watch as an army of soldiers stomps through the fog, toward the city. The pair of witches sends out their entire army of baboons to stop the incoming force. The baboons tear-into the soldiers, but are shocked to find that they're full of hay. The fog dissipates, revealing that the soldiers are mechanical scarecrows, built by the townspeople, and to make matters worse, the fog was covering the poppy field. Almost all of the baboons fall into a deep sleep, leaving the city mostly defenseless. The townspeople disappear back into the woods as a few conscious baboons go after them. Glinda is suddenly taken hostage by a pair of them. She drops her wand into the field and is taken up into the center of the city. Evanora searches the grass for the wand, but thanks to the China Girl, is unable to find it. Evanora flies back into the city, and at its center is met by Theodora. The pair stand on either side of Glinda, who has been chained to a pair of posts. The angry citizens of Emerald City watch on in horror as Evanora and Theodora torture Glinda with lightning and fire attacks. Above them, Oz's balloon appears. Evanora points at the balloon, and exposes Oz as a greedy fraud, trying to escape with the town's riches instead of defending the town as the prophecy foretold. Evanora angrily shoots fire at the hot air balloon, exploding it, and sending the riches crashing down to the ground in a giant plume of black smoke. Glinda, shocked by Oz's death, cries, and prepares to die. Suddenly a booming voice echoes throughout the city and Oz's ghostly face appears on the plume of smoke. He explains that his death was necessary to become the true Wizard of Oz, and that he is now immortal and all-powerful. Evanora and Theodora are speechless. They fire lightning and fireballs into Oz's ghostly facade, but they do nothing. Secretly, Oz, Knuck, Finley, and the Master Tinker sit huddled in the caravan at the center of the city, projecting a moving image onto the black smoke, putting-on a spectacular illusion. While distracted, the China Girl sneaks Glinda her wand and manages to break her free. Upon finding Glinda gone, the townspeople turning on her, and a massive floating head in the sky, Evanora escapes into the castle, leaving Theodora to deal with the town by herself. Soon Oz, and the townspeople, rain fireworks down onto Theodora, forcing her to escape on her broom. As she trails into the distance, she promises to return and stop Oz for good.Evanora, inside the castle, is confronted by Glinda seated in her father's throne. Evanora shoots lightning at Glinda, but Glinda deflects the attacks with her wand. The fight starts on the ground but ends in the air. Evanora grabs Glinda by the throat, and Glinda grasps at Evanora's chest. Their attacks rebound off one another and the two land, painfully, on the ground. Evanora prepares to deliver the killing blow, but lacks the magic to do so. She reaches for her neck, the emerald necklace that had been around it, the source of her power, is gone; shattered into a thousand pieces on the ground, under Glinda. Evanora suddenly keels over. Her beautiful features disappear. Her nails grow long and dirty, her skin becomes wrinkled and liver-spotted, and an old hag appears in her place. The old, true Evanora lunges at Glinda, but Glinda, with wand in hand, repels her attack and sends her flying through the castle window. She's caught by a pair of flying baboons and carried off into the distance.The Emerald City, now freed of tyranny, celebrates. Glinda walks into the throne room and is greeted by the smokey visage of Oz, hovering over the throne. Finley latches the door. China Girl and Knuck close the curtains and once the coast is clear, Master Tinker switches-off the mechanism and out steps Oz, in the flesh. As thanks for their exemplary work, Oz gives each of them a gift. To Master Tinker, he gives a swiss-army knife, complete with a fork and spoon. To Knuck, (A.K.A.; Sour Puss), he gives a novelty mask with a smile painted on it. To Finley he gives his top hat and friendship, and to China Girl he offers themselves as her new family. Finally, to Glinda, he takes her behind the curtain and plants a giant kiss on her.

Tags: fantasy, whimsical, good versus evil, psychedelic, romantic, revenge, entertaining, storytelling, sci-fi

Review:
The supporting cast also performs pretty well, sometimes capturing that original 'Wizard of Oz' magic.The Bad: Going into this film with high expectations for the dialogue, & acting is going to leave you very disappointed.
(Such as transferring characters of "the real world" into characters of The Land of Oz) Without saying too much, I can tell you that this film is stuck somewhere between being a fun and family friendly revitalization of the original story and being a serious and intriguing fantasy film for a wide movie-going audience - and the formula just doesn't work.
The character is a shallow small time magician and the story shows how he comes full circle to be the Great and Powerful Oz from the Wizard of Oz. Unfortunately, his change happens after taking a grievous toll.
The character development is amazing and shows exactly why things were they way they are in the Wizard of Oz. Simply stated Oz the Great and Powerful is truly a prefect prequel..
I love Wicked (book and musical), Tin Man, Return to Oz, The Wiz (the musical more than the movie), and even Geoff Ryman's oh-so-depressing novel Was. There's no such thing as an "official" version of the story anymore, so I don't mind a little pastiche here and there.
And, of course, Rachel Weisz steals the show with a delicious performance, embodying a great number of classic villains from Snow White's Evil Queen to Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine.Visually, the film is a delight.
James Franco is a Movie Star (and some may question why) and Not an Actor, so He can by No Stretch of the Imagination Pull off the Charm Needed for the Wizard.
She is not believable as the wicked witch of the west and just comes across as lightweight compare to her sisters played by Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams who are both much better actors than this film deserved.
Williams does the same, making her sweet tooth character a joy to watch as well and brings a real sincerity to the role which is a god sent because of how insincere Franco is in his.It is a beautiful movie and the CGI does not give you a headache but other those things and the efforts of Weisz and Williams, The movie has too many strikes against it thanks to the script and the miscasting of Franco and Kunis..
Oscar learns that he is the only hope for the inhabitants of Oz that believe that he is a powerful magician and his only chance to defeat Evanora and Theodora is using illusion since he has no magic power."Oz the Great and Powerful" is an entertaining fantasy movie, with beautiful special effects and great cast.
That all changes, however, when he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams , though Blake Lively was offered the role), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting.
With this film, they were able to patch things up and reconcile .This story about OZ has been adapted several times such as : An old and mute version (1925) , the classic and the best rendition , the MGM release ¨The wizard of Oz¨ (1939) by Victor Fleming with Judy Garland , Ray Bolger , Billy Burke , Jack Haley , Frank Morgan and Margaret Hamilton as witch ; remade in 1978 as ¨The Wiz¨ by Sidney Lumet with Diana Ross , Richard Pryor and Michael Jackson and ¨Return to Oz¨ (1985) by Walter Murch with Fauriza Falk ,Nicol Willliamson, Matt Clark and Piper Laurie ..
I have read some of the previews here and I agree what were people expecting, to be running this movie down also the actors.It is a wonderful movie not to be missed.I loved it 10/10 full of old world Disney charm I think its full of Fantasy Colour for young and old.The China girl I loved as she seemed alive and so cute and Finley the Monkey made me laugh I felt like a child again as I was 6 yrs old when I saw the original movie, now i'm 65yrs old this was a real treat.The story explained what the original movie was about and the characters were just fabulous loved them all,will see many times and buy when its released..
And, like any great genius, Raimi is a sincere and honest storymaker who teamed up with the greatest wizards in the film industry to help bring the enchanting Land of Oz to life, Raimi assembled his own band of technical wizards and movie magicians, bring Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire's imaginative screenplay to life.
Raimi's casting is equally exceptional: James Franco shines as the predestined Wizard; Mila Kunis (Black Swan) is superb as the tormented young witch Theodora; Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) delivers another great performance as Theodora's older sister, Evanora, the witch who rules over the Emerald City; and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine, My Week with Marilyn) is sensational as Glinda, the Good Witch.
Then there's 13-year-old actress Joey King (Ramona and Beezus), who plays a girl in a wheelchair at the circus and voices another unforgettable CGI character in the story, China Girl, the porcelain child who also joins the future Wizard on his fateful excursion through Oz. Oz the Great and Powerful has everything in entertainment you can wish for and much, much more.
Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz (my personal favorite actress from the movie) play the three sisters slash witches.
Its does not help at all that there is some major casting missteps along the way, like the main character himself played by James Franco, who is just wrong for the role.
The little china doll was a better actor!Mila Kunis was beautiful but disappointing; Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams did their best to save a terrible movie.
It's as wondrous, if not more so, as the dazzling world in Tim Burton's Wonderland, only with more memorable characters and a better story.The true wizard behind the emerald curtain is master director Sam Raimi.
What is of concern though, is just how horribly wrong director Sam Raimi and his cast get it in what should've been a rip-roaringly fun adventure with glorious musical numbers, beautiful visuals and memorable versions of characters we already know and love.
From the god awful make-up of Mila Kunis' wicked witch and the failed attempts of comedy relief to James Franco's embarrassingly over-the-top performance as the titular wizard and the unrefined and leaden dialogue (with forced references that subsequently feel tacky); Oz is just one misstep after the next, making the two hour plus runtime a slog to get through.
Rachel Weisz provides a glimmer of entertainment as the unashamedly benevolent witch Evanora and the opening Kansas sequence shot in black and white with an old-school aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (ie, not widescreen) is a nice treat, but neither can save this from being a great and powerful let down..
Sam, you've done if before.I see raving about how great the CGI is in this film, but the monkey still don't look real.You could say it's easy for me to sit on my couch and give a negative review to a movie, and it is.
The sisters Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Theodora (Mila Kunis) send him on a deadly quest to kill the Wicked Witch which brings him into contact with Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams), flying monkeys, and a china doll.James Franco plays the fast-talking ladies man, hustling his customers and co-workers at the circus in Kansas.
Amazing special effects, great actors, all wrapped in a fun, colorful and surprising movie filled with numerous twists (that is if you haven't seen the 1939's Wizard of Oz, I'm sure if I would have seen that film I would have this film spoiled}.P.S. I find it quite ironic that a film where three beautiful women play scheming witches is released on the International Women's Day. Perhaps Disney's hidden message?.
Anyone who gives this film a single star should check out the 1969 kiddie matinée version of "The Marvelous Land of Oz" or last year's "The Witches of Oz" if they want to see what a truly dismal Oz movie really looks like.The part where the movie fell a bit flat for me was the "woman scorned" plot element.
I hate myself for it, but while listening to the fairly hackneyed dialogue between Evanora and Theadora, for the briefest of moments, I found myself almost wishing that I was watching a "Wicked" film instead.Each member of the cast did a fine job in my book, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite character of the movie: China Girl.
The visuals in this movie are stunning, all of the acting was great (James Franco, Michelle Williams and Mila Kunis especially), the script was well-done, and the overall quality of the movie was exceptional.
Oz the Great and Powerful is Disney's prequel to the 1939 classic movie The Wizard of Oz, and it is set 20 years before the tale of Dorothy Gale's (Judy Garland) journey into the Land of Oz. The movie characters are based on The Oz series by L.
Frank Baum.The movie is delightful and Disney paid homage to the old classic by starting the introduction of the movie's main character Oscar "Oz" Diggs (James Franco) in black and white and the moment he stepped into Oz the movie transformed to color, just like that of the 1939 classic which started in sepia tinted black and white, and the moment Dorothy got to Oz the movie transformed into colored.I enjoyed the colorful bit of the movie I do have to give kudos to the story, it was interesting and involving, I found myself drawn in and the idea that showed that The Wizard of Oz was first truly a con man, a con man of mere magic tricks who travels with a circus, until one day he found himself in the Land of Oz where they await their savior a Wizard so great that he will be able to defeat the witch sisters.Here our hero comes into Oz as a con man and we get to see him metamorphose into the wizard we know him to be in the The Oz Series.The movie did face some hiccups during production, some of which were due to the cast having other roles that they had to leave to go fulfill, and then there was the legal rights as Warner Bros owned all the rights to the elements used in the 1939 classic such things like: the color of the wicked witch of the west (here her shade of green differs from the 1939 classic), her mole was not present, the yellow brick road was also nowhere to be seen, although there is a brick road.Director Sam Raimi and James Franco worked together in the Spiderman trilogy where Franco played Osborne.
Here Raimi did an impressive work coordinating the events that took place in this film.This movie did make reference to the characters in the old classic, like a lady Oz was seeing told him she is getting married to a man whose last name was Gale (Dorothy Gale), we see the creation of the scarecrow, we get to see the men who created the Tin Man and we saw how the cowardly lion became coward when he got frightened away by Oz.My take on this movie is that it is fun and a nice watch for those who have a mind that is ready to fly.www.lagsreviews.com.
He does a great job with the roll and certainly deserves to be noted.On a personal note, I thought this film was going to be over the top with bad characters and a director that would TRY to emulate the original.
(I suspect Franco's extremely limited range might have been part of the problem, but I'm doing my best to stay in the screenplay end of this shallow pool) I was a little surprised to hear his character fear that he might not pass the "good heart" test of flying through a bubble (A bubble that looked just like the Dawn dish soap variety I buy for my son at the dollar store) Up to that point I just saw him as a cheapskate prankster with a line for every lady.
I knew going in this was not in anyway going to live up to the most beloved film of all time; however, I adore the idea of giving us the back story of Oscar, or the Wizard of Oz. I never read the novels and now having seen this film I definitely will, because I want to give my own visual splendor to this story and the book will consist of actual intellectual dialogue.Right off the bat James Franco and Mila Kunis are leading this film so big FAIL right there.
But as the top billed actors no thank you and going back to this mythical world that blew my mind as a child I wanted this piece to be so much stronger than what we were given.Sam Raimi is a good director, but the last film I adore of his was The Army of Darkness; the Spiderman trilogy was okay and honestly I wouldn't give them the time of day if not for it's seamless and unintentional hokeyness...plus Bruce Campbell is the man.
Mila Kunis I know you were trying it definitely shows, but you lacked direction, the focus and motivation as a character was completely lost on me, and forgive my male mentality but all I saw was green cleavage when you appeared on screen after your transformation.Visually it was quite pleasing the first 20 minutes than I got bored of the CGI, just way too much CGI and someone on this site said it best; it was like Burton's Alice in Wonderland, too much CGI not enough story.
But as the land of Oz begins to widen and its characters, as well as Diggs' journey, begins to unfold, somewhere over the rainbow is where the story and movie looses so much of its magic.Franco plays Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Issac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, small time magician in a moving circus, con-artist and 20th Century playboy.
It had everything a good family movie needs: fun, magic, science, mystery, good actors, beautiful story line and it definitely won't be boring to watch in any age!
What makes it so great is that director Sam Raimi decides that the location set was going to look just like the original Wizard of Oz (1939), fake.
It is a good story but, maybe could have tell it in less time and leave the audience wanting more, not thinking "God, this movie is quite long".
Worst film I have seen for the last 3 years The acting is terrible the silly monkey fencible is annoyingthe CGI is poor the story is weak and the plot rubbish, the script uselessI love the original OZ , this is completer nonsense and a massive let downI was expecting a wonderful fairy tale and I got the most boring film with worst actorsavoid total waste of time I would rather read a newspaper on the toilet it is utter useless.
A piece of advice for anyone thinking about seeing Oz: The Great and Powerful: the further you can get from the majestic 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz, the more chance you stand of having a good time with the prequel.For those of us that feel a strong connection to the original film, Disney's first big release of the year is a trite, overloaded bog of cloying CG, nauseating characters, and a needlessly dark tone that betrays of the innocence of a world so many of us grew up with.It's nothing new to observe that many of the big summer pictures of the last decade or so have leaned towards a darker tone, and it's also not necessarily a bad thing.
Due to the cultural footprint of the original, even people who may not have seen it in a long time, or ever, are probably familiar enough with the story that we know how this film is going to play out.There was no prophecy about Dorothy's trip to Oz to defeat the Witch, each of the supporting characters had their motivation set up in little more than a sentence or two, and it's hard to deny that story turned out pretty well.
The colors are magnificent and there are many instances that play homage to the original Wizard of Oz. I was completely drawn into the story and at the end you feel good about yourself and have hope for these world that far-far away.
Well, I enjoyed the special effects, casting, and the vividness of this 120 minute tale of almost predictable storyline.James Franco suits aptly as the wizard Oz, while Mila Kunis disappointed me maybe because most of the time she isn't portrayed cleverly.
While watching the movie you can generally feel that Raimi has invested a serious effort to represent "Oz the Great and Powerful" as something between a children's fairy tales, a dark fantasy for adults and a decent prequel for "The Wizard of Oz".
'Oz - the Great and the Powerful,' in case you don't know, is a prequel to the classic Wizard of Oz film of the 1930s, showing how the wizard himself got to the magical land and his encounters with the witches before Dorothy squashed one and doused the other.My hopes weren't high when I went in to see this.
Finally, Michelle Williams does a great job as Glinda, the only good witch.Overall, Oz the Great and Powerful is a very fun, action-packed film that explores the origins of Oz and the Wizard.
A movie starring James Franco to tell us the story of the wizard and how he got to Oz using way too much CG I, boring story line, and bad acting.