Oz the Great and Powerful ~ Disappointing!

Here I go again! Yesterday I popped down to the local theatre and watched the incredibly advertised 'Oz the Great and Powerful'! Walking in I was hopeful and optimistic, walking out I was underwhelmed and bored. Not a good transformation if you ask me! As is the case with some of these massive, expensive movies, I think they spent more time, effort, and/or money on the CGI than on the script. I will quit with the generalizations and dive into the details.

Let's start with the story. A con-man magician called Oz rides a hot air balloon through a tornado into the magical world of Oz. Once there the people of the land mistake him for their prophesied wizard and send him on a quest to kill the wicked witch. If he kills the witch he will earn the crown of Oz, the massive king's share of the gold, and the loyalty of all the people. Oz decides to go for it, because he is super greedy, and starts out on a long, long, long adventure. Did I say long? Technically, the running time is 2 hours and 10 minutes, which is quite long for a kids' movie. Honestly, it felt more like 3 hours. I suppose the length would have been okay if the story was any good, but it really wasn't. It was quite weak, incredibly predictable, and very childish. I knew it wasn't going to be an adult movie when I was walking in, but I was expecting it to be aimed at early teens, not 8 year olds. Of course, all the children in the theatre age 6-12 were whining about the long, boring movie as well, so they pretty much failed to find a target audience. I found myself wanting to care at first, but eventually you just slump in your chair and hope the climax is good.

Next, I want to talk about the special effects. They were pretty, I can't deny that. They were very in your face and immersive. When Oz first arrived in Oz there is a CGI fest with swarms of butterflies and a white water rafting sequence that was a bit much but after that it calmed down. The cinematographers seemed a touch obsessed with gigantic close ups of James Franco's face. Close ups so large that he was easily half the screen with other business scurrying around the other half. It was distracting. All in all, the graphics can't make up for the other shortcomings in the movie. Too bad.

Her hat was the best costume piece of all!

Next, let's go over the acting and characters. James Franco was Oz, as you probably know. He did somewhere between acceptable and good. Oz spent a lot of time making out, or trying to make out with every female character of the same species as him. So, he was playing himself. Honestly, all the womanizing side stories split the atmosphere of the movie; half was a skippity do da kids movie, and the other was the romantic endeavors of Franco. The three witches were overacted. At the beginning you don't know exactly which witch is the good witch. Throughout the movie, there are several over-emphasised hints at darkness that make you roll your eyes and realize that they just gave away another mystery without any flair whatsoever. Whatcha gonna do?

Next, is costumes and makeup. This was actually pretty good! The costumes were wild and whimsical and the makeup was nicely done. The costumes may have been the highlight of the movie. Well, that was an easy topic!

This sad monkey was the best character in the movie. I liked him.

I do want to mention that I haven't read all the various books that I know both the Oz movies are based on. When it comes to accuracy to the books, I don't know. That being said, if this movie is incredibly accurate (which I highly doubt) and I have insulted your favorite childhood story, I'm sorry, but it's true.

To sum up, 'Oz the Great and Powerfull' is a dud! The best part of the entire movie is at the very beginning when Oz is still in Kansas. It was filmed in black and white, naturally, and was the most charming and relatable time in the movie. I almost wish he had never gone to Oz and had instead lived out his regular life. Pretty much this movie should have been named, 'Oz the Long and Boring'.