Film Review- "Oz The Great & Powerful"

Oz The Great & Powerful
Directed By Sam Rami
Starring James Franco as Oscar Diggs, Mila Kunis as Theodora, Rachel Weisz as Evanora, and Michelle Williams as Glinda

If you’re going to take a favorite, well-known story and do a new take on it, you’ve got to give it some fresh new edge. Once Upon A Time does it every Sunday night on ABC. Countless films like Alice In Wonderland, and the multiple adaptions of Snow White like Snow White & The Huntsman and Mirror Mirror, have tried and didn’t really succeed for one reason or another (Kirsten Stewart, aside). Disney’s Oz The Great & Powerful offers some of the familiar, in an appealing new packaging, making it a very enjoyable film.

Before Dorothy’s time, Oscar “Oz” Diggs (James Franco) is a carnival magician in Kansas, striving for more than what he is. Unfortunate circumstances and an all too convenient tornado send him off to the Land of Oz. There he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams). The witches believe him to be the wizard prophesized to will bring peace to their land after destroying the Wicked Witch. Seeing this as his opportunity for a better life, Oz plays along and sets out on a journey that will put him to the ultimate test as the fate of Oz (the land) rests on his hands. But not everything in Oz is as it seems…

There’s not much to the plot than that. There are some of the classic screenplay clichés thrown in there, such as will the liar be exposed, and is the bad guy really the bad guy. But they’re not the problems you expect them to be. You really get invested in the story and this world. For one thing, it’s Oz, one of the most successful and well-known cinematic universes of all time. Second, the effects in this movie are awesome. It’s exactly how you’d expect Oz to look like if the original were made today. Third, the performances in this movie are terrific.

Michelle Williams is spot-on as Glinda, and brings the same love and charm Billie Burke did to the character in The Wizard of Oz, but in a fresh, modern way. She may have been my favorite performance of the film. Rachel Weisz is so convincing and alluring as the wicked Evanora, and Mila Kunis gives a performance that I didn’t know she had in her. Seriously she should show her more serious acting side more often. One question though, wasn’t there four witches in the land of Oz (North, South, East, West), or am I missing something?

James Franco however as our lead…God bless him he’s doing his best. There are moments when he really shines. But when he really has to show the suave, charismatic side of this character, the cracks in his performance form. You just can’t help but see that creepy, weird James Franco face behind it, trying to be charismatic. Overall he did a fine job, but I wish Robert Downey Jr. didn’t turn down the role. Meanwhile, Zac Braff may steal the show as the adorable comic relief, Finley the Monkey.

Oz The Great & Powerful is a truly enjoyable film. It offers something slightly new, yet slightly familiar, and I recommend it to any filmgoer. And also keep an eye out for little references to The Wizard of Oz throughout the film.