I liked it. Greetings from July, 2017. I wrote this review right after Oz the Great and Powerful came out, and now that a few years have passed and I can see a bit more clearly, I'm more than a little embarrassed at my effusive praise of this film. I haven't seen the movie since it was in theaters. I think I'd still enjoy it today, but I'd also find it easier to admit that it's not that great. I like Franco and Kunis, but they weren't the best choices for these roles. Also, it's disappointing that Disney felt the urge to make this an unofficial prequel to the 39 movie rather than basing the story more on the books. I thought about deleting my review entirely, but for the time being, I think I'll just leave it the way it is with the addition of this admission that I'm now able to confess that perhaps I don't love it as much as I originally thought I did. After this paragraph, what follows is my original review:
I feel a bit sorry for L. Frank Baum. In his lifetime he wrote fourteen Oz books- in terms of popularity, they were essentially the Harry Potter series of the early 20th century- however, nowadays, if you ask the average person on the street about Oz, the first and only thing that will come to mind will be the 1939 classic film- a film that is not even entirely faithful to the source material, I might add. I love that movie as much as the next person, but there's so much more to Oz than Judy Garland and ruby slippers.
Anybody who dares to tackle Oz as a subject faces an uphill battle, fighting against the general public's cherished memories of what is erroneously believed to be the one true version of that story. In an even broader sense, any movie made today must endure an increasingly jaded and judgmental movie-going public.
I confess I had my own doubts about this film, but those were abolished from the stylish opening credits onwards. I hasten to add that if I watch a movie based on a property I've loved in the past and it fails to meet my expectations, I won't delude myself into thinking it was good when it wasn't, nor will I be afraid to say that I was disappointed. I'm very happy that I don't have to do that in this case. "Oz the Great and Powerful" has heart and humor in abundance, and it is also a treat for the eyes, to coin a phrase. I tend to dismiss 3D as a gimmicky fad, yet was quite impressed by its employment here.
It's not a perfect movie (what is?). In all honesty, I've probably given it a slightly higher score than it merits, but in to be fair, there are also those who have given it a far lower score than it deserves. 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've no dispute with this film's explanation for how the Wicked Witch became wicked, but it was I couldn't help feeling a trifle bored by clichéd manner that storyline was executed. 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. No one but the most hard-hearted of cynics could fail to be charmed and moved by that character. I could easily see China Girl having a career extending beyond this film the way Jiminy Cricket and Tinkerbell have had in the past.
Life seems so unrelentingly stressful these days that escapism is more vital than ever, but in my case, the cinema doesn't always provide as much of a refuge from the outside world as it once did. Often as I'm sitting watching a film, no matter how good it may be, the weight of my troubles will come crashing down on me and I have to fight the urge to bolt from the theater screaming. However, I managed to spend two hours completely captivated by "Oz the Great and Powerful" without my problems intruding on my mind once. It may not mean much to everyone, but by those standards alone, I'd consider this movie a roaring success.