One
could resist that’s what prequels are: They must link themselves undistinguishably
to what we knew.
Writers
Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire based their script on the works of the
great L. Frank Baum. However, this movie, which was also released in 3D, is
based on the classic 1939 movie with Judy Garland. The movie even opens up with
a black-and-white Kansas, with a twister.
Obviously
Dorothy will not be in this movie, and neither will Toto. Instead, “Oz”
directed by Sam Raimi, tells how the Land of Oz and its Emerald City citizens
came to get the Wizard of Oz. It also tells how the two witches got to be so
evil as well.
Michelle
Williams gives a brilliant but supported turn as Glinda the Good Witch. Rachel
Weisz and Mila Kunis (who also does the voice of Meg Griffin in “Family Guy”)
play sisters Evanora and Theodora. One’s intentionally evil, and the other
turns evil because of hurt.
LisaKennedy of Denver Post said in her review, “None of them — good or evil — are
as interesting or refreshing as the complicated roommates of the blockbuster
musical "Wicked."”
James
Franco smiles a lot as Oscar Diggs, a hustler/magician working the circus
circuit in Kansas. “My friends call me Oz,” he tells Theodora, all when his
hot-air balloon makes an unexpected landing in the Technicolor land of strange flora
and fauna and a diverse citizenry desperate for a wizard to accomplish the
prophesy.
It’s
hard to think of Kunis as immature as her character. I think Kennedy is right
when she says, “With her Bette Davis eyes, one gets the sense the actress sees
through everything. The script robs her of that innate intelligence.” Plus the parts
between Theodora and Oz, the main part of this movie’s plot, show that weakness
of this visit. “Oz” drifts from its yellow-brick path every time there is a
romance part, frustrated or otherwise. Kennedy says, “It finds its way back
onto the magical route when it hews to a more egalitarian saga of people rising
to the occasion of their own liberty.”
A
handful of visual effects are definitely special. But many are also
movie-making’s version of flying a lily. Besides, Evanora’s flying army of
monkeys is only slightly more evil for being recast as sharp-fanged baboons.
The
tornado that whisks Oz away in the hot-air balloon is impressive. Kennedy also
adds, “And his zero-gravity moment in the twister is a thing of momentary
beauty, but it still doesn't trump the wonder of the one Dorothy awoke in.”
Since
I didn’t see this movie in the theater, I’ll let Kennedy describe the 3D feel: “Raimi,
director of the first "Spider-Man" trilogy but also the cult classic
"The Evil Dead," uses 3-D as he might in a horror flick. Shards of
wood pierce the hot-air balloon's wicker basket. Spears thrown by henchmen
appear to rain down on the audience. Cool. Barely. Because by now, aren't those
gestures just the 3-D equivalent of a magician pulling a bouquet out of thin
air?”
Kennedy
then goes on to say, “If all this sounds harsher than seems fair for a movie
with many a bright spot, chalk it up — some — to the DNA encoding of "The
Wizard of Oz" on my soul.”
Let’s
take a moment to give credit to two great and surprisingly the best characters in
the movie: a flying monkey and a little girl made entirely out of china.
So
many humans wonder is in these two characters made up of make-up, puppetry,
digital effects and great performances.
Even
though it’s nice to see Zach Braff (from the sitcom “Scrubs”) as Bob, Oz’s
assistant in Kansas, it’s even better to see him once he is in Oz. He voices
Finley, the little flying monkey in the bell-up costume. His chattering tangents
are often as insightful as they are hilarious.
Like
Braff, 13-year-old Joey King also has two roles. First, she shows up in the black-and-white
segment of Kansas. With a nice touch of magic, Oz makes a believer out of the little
girl watching his show in her wheelchair. She asks Oz to cure her, which he can’t
do.
Later
when Oz and Finley walk into a place called China Town (which we probably would
think that Asians will now be in Oz), all they hear among the ruins is soft
cries of a little porcelain girl. Oz saves her and she joins the journey.
With
China Girl and Finley with Oz as he goes to destroy the wand of the witch he
thinks is evil, Oz becomes a more worthy hero. Also, the film’s journey becomes
funny and emotional and memorable all at the same time, like “The Wizard of Oz.”
I
highly recommend you see this movie. Even though the acting isn’t really that
good, I still believe that this is worth checking out. Especially since it’s
within the same vein as the other movies I have reviewed based on original
Grimm Brothers tales that were turned light-hearted for children.
Thanks
for joining in on “Halloween Month” this year. I hope you enjoyed all of these
reviews, go out tonight, dress up in your costume, get some candy, and watch
some scary movies. I’ll see you next month.
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