Movie Review: Oz The Great And Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful (3D)
Fantasy (PG)
James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz & Mila Kunis
131 mins

3 out of 5 stars

By Isaac Tan

Far from defying gravity, director Sam Raimi’s Oz The Great And Powerful stands between somewhere over the rainbow and falling off the yellow brick road.

Forget Dorothy – the prequel to the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz returns to the familiar Land of Oz. 

The film follows the life of the magician-turned-wizard, coincidentally named Oscar “Oz” Diggs (James Franco). It focuses on Oz’s personal transformation from a sub-par illusionist seeking greatness to a wizard filled with goodness.  

Oz, the circus magician, is introduced as an egotistical womanizer constantly preoccupied with attaining fame and wealth. Like the original, he gets whisked away by a twister from Kansas into a world of magic and fantasy in technicolour.

There, Oz runs into three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams). With his signature charm and trickery, Oz wins their hearts and becomes the unsuspecting hero whose attempts to sidestepping danger leads him on a quest to save the Land of Oz.

Throughout the movie, Raimi delicately drops hints of the original and even an ode to the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum by naming the circus after him.

The screenplay also follows closely to the original where Oz finds travel buddies in Finley (Zach Braff), a flying monkey and China Girl (Joey King), a porcelain doll, mirroring how Dorothy meets the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. 

Unfortunately, as the journey begins, the film dies down to a underwhelming plateau as half of the total screen time is spent introducing the different facades and characters in the Land of Oz.

However, Raimi cleverly injects suspense by keeping mum on who plays the green-faced Wicked Witch of the West. The intricate CGI sets also make a great 3D movie that’s a feast for the eyes.

From detailed snowflakes to the fine furs of the Wicked Witch’s flying baboons, the budget set aside for effects has clearly paid off. Audiences are kept visually entertained at the stunning world that looks like a cross between James Cameron’s Avatar and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

The cast doesn’t disappoint either. Despite the occasional wooden expressions, Franco exudes a nonsensical side that makes for good comedy as the mischievous Wizard. Together with the support of Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis, the actors breathe life into the otherwise uninspiring lines through their undisputed acting chops and good looks.

Although fans of the 1939 classic may find themselves disappointed by Disney’s relatively lacklustre adaptation, those unacquainted to the original may find Oz the Great and Powerful an exciting visual treat, albeit a forgettable watch. 

Oz the Great and Powerful opens in Singapore today.