Oz: The Great and Powerful
Review by Sean Lynch
You'd think the big company's would have learned their lesson by now? When dealing with and rebooting beloved franchises, audiences clearly aren't against it (box office sales are a testament to that), however the consistent audience reactions to the likes of new era Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Alice In Wonderland and even Star Wars are pretty consistent... CHILL OUT WITH THE CGI ALREADY!
Yes, Disney are indeed the kings of milking cash out of nostalgia, however, they're not to concerned with how they do it either. Thus we have Oz: The Great and Powerful, the bastard, mutated child of Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland and the hit broadway musical Wicked.
In this latest fantastical adventure Oz (it's a prequel to the classic Judy Garland Wizard of Oz... what a surprise!) L. Frank Baum's beloved character, the Wizard of Oz comes to life in the form of Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician / con-man with ethics that are covered in slime.
A twist of fate find him hurled away from the dustbowl of Kansas into the vibrant Land of Oz, a wonderous place where he is wrongly and unwillingly thrust into the role of a prophesised Grand Wizard who is believed to be able to save the land. Things soon go awry when Oz crosses paths with three witches (some good, some bad), Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting.
First things first, what works... well, The Land of Oz works. It's so fantastic to revisit a world that has lived on in the memories of children (and remains as entertaining and relevant) for over 70 years (something almost no other film has managed). The other card Oz: The Great and Powerful has up it's sleeve is a genuinely interesting story (ripped directly from Wicked)... but that's about it.
The most immediate problem (aside from the CGI and a visual style that seems implies Sam Raimi was only brought in to direct on the proviso he uses left over footage from Tim Burton's latest Disney movies) is James Franco as Oz. It's one of the most glaringly obvious cases of miscasting Hollywood has seen in a long, long time (one assume he was cast a few years ago on the back of 127 Hours when he was the "it" guy).
While Oscar Diggs is, admittedly, meant to be a sleazy, untrustworthy scoundrel (a VIBE Franco exudes) - there is little we see from Franco in terms of acting ability that actually conveys that vibe within the character... or shows any progression and evoloution from it as the film wears on.
His performance is not just inconsistent with the rest of the cast, who all play up the pantomime angle to great effect (just as was the case in the Judy Garland picture), but also inconsistent within his OWN performance. In one scene he'll be a charicature of a bad stage actor, in another he seems like he's simply playing 'James Franco thinking he's "too cool" for what's going on around him'.
If anything, the story of Oscar Diggs is more consistent with Franco's own rise within Hollywood than anything else (a man, bereft of any actual talent, lucks his way into a position of power and shows seemingly no remorse or gratitude for doing so).
Zach Braff, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams are the only saving graces here, capturing the perfect cartoonish tone for the story and style - while still managing to bring a great deal of genuine emotion and gravity to their performances. They can quite deservedly stand next to Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Margaret Hamilton in the history books of the Oz Universe.
Oz: The Great and Powerful does enough to make you fall in love with the land of Oz again (there's some great moments with the China Doll, the mapping of The Emerald City), but it not without trying it's hardest to make you hate it (including completley shitting on the legacy of the munchkins courtesy of some "Oompa Loompa era Danny Elfman").
In the end, it's less of a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, and more of a sequel to Burton's Alice In Wonderland (even stealing a few sneaky phrases and themes from both it, Spider-Man and The Dark Knight). Think of it as a 7-11 Slurpee that's got all the flavours in it... but has melted into a syruppy, headache inducing, mess.
Stick to the original and Return To Oz (at least the sets were real in those!).
3 out of 5
Oz: The Great and Powerful
Australian release: 7th March, 2013
Official Site: Oz: The Great and Powerful
Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff
Director: Sam Raimi
