Oz: The Great and Powerful (IMAX 3D)

· by · in 2 Star, Reviews. ·

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We all know that The Wizard of Oz is a sham and an impostor offering nothing more than a lot of cheap tricks, this movie is no different.

The Wizard of Oz is a timeless classic and as with all timeless classics despite the complete lack of demand it is imperative that Hollywood produce at least one rip off per decade. Oz has had a pretty good run ‘Return to Oz’ was an entertaining romp and ‘The Wiz’ made up for what it lacked in style by packing a big musical punch; unfortunately Oz: The Great and Powerful is not so fortunate.

Taking us back to before the happenings of the original and following the story of how the Wizard came to arrive in Oz and claim his throne, there is little here in terms of narrative or engaging content we are given a box full of tricks to try and convince us that something magical is going on.

The tricks are impressive, director Sam Raimi has created a fantastical world, that cleverly operates around the licensing restrictions that impede the production from fully embracing the look of the original picture. Opening in 4:3 ratio black and white invokes the opening of the original and once in Oz the full screen IMAX image is bursting with colour and cute touches that create the mystical world. Raimi also has a subtle hand with the 3D and makes some good use of the technique without overloading the senses.

We are introduced to a host of new characters Zach Braff as a talking monkey butler, Joey King as a girl made from china and Tony Cox as angry valet Knuck. They each define a role within the world of Oz and are given plenty of one-liners to work with but unfortunately they just have no story to take us along with.

Leading the charge is James Franco as Oz, a failing sideshow magician who uses his ability to fool people to achieve a mythic status in the naive world of Oz. Franco gives his all to the picture but again, without a strong narrative is left treading water for a lot of the overly adventurous 120 minute plus running time.

The attempt at drama is brought by the three witches, Evanora played by Rachel Weisz is the matriarch, Michelle Williams’ Glenda is the good witch and following an introduction as a sweet natured third witch, Mila Kunis’ Theodora becomes the green faced wicked witch we know so well from Frank L. Baum’s tale. All three are fighting against being mis-cast, Weisz is not old enough to carry off the motivations given to her, Williams is cast solely for her look, meaning that Raimi puts no effort into getting a performance out of her and Kunis suffers from having nowhere to go with her husky voice once she has to go ‘full cackle’.

The story treads an incredibly predictable path with the Wizard fighting against and then, with the help of the Munchkins, defeating the Witches. There are moments that achieve the scares that were present in the original and that you expect from Raimi, but as a prequel we know that the Wizard survives, and also the witches and therefore there is no jeopardy and very little entertainment.

The film also suffers from having to remain in Oz, we get no final sequence back in 4:3 black and white to remind us of who these characters were in Kansas. Raimi and his production design team have created a visually stunning environment for their characters but unfortunately they then give them very little to do in it. The is the Land of Oz but it is no place like home.

**

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