Stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle WIlliams, Zach Braff, Joey King, Bill Cobbs and Tony Cox Directed by Sam Raimi Given that this is a Disney production, touted to be in the vein of their recent take on Alice In Wonderland, and tackling the world of Oz before the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz, well… I had reservations (no, I didn't book tickets way in advance). Despite having Tim Burton as director, I didn't quite take to Alice In Wonderland, but I did marvel at the production design and other design work that went into that movie. Sure, it did have some of Burton's sensibilities coming through, but not really enough to be the typically strange and unusual you'd might expect from the director of Beetlejuice, Big Fish or Frankenweenie. Thing is, the same could be said about director Sam Raimi's take on this Oz adventure. The quirky directorial stylings of Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Darkman, Spider-Man or The Quick and The Dead are something you might expect. Like with Alice tho, it's all in the design of the movie. This is a visually sumptuous movie, and probably best seen in 3D, if you can afford it (I passed). Still, Raimi did manage to keep his stylised montage sequence intact here. Keeping in tone with the 1939 movie, Oz: The Great and Powerful opens in Kansas (after an impressive and 3D immersive credit sequence) in black and white and 1:1.33 frame ratio, turning into colour and a wider screen ratio upon arrival in Oz (just like in the trailer). The story's focus is mainly on Oscar "Oz" Diggs, a carnival magician who fall foul of some of the other performers, and in his escape attempt, hops into a hot-air balloon and then finds himself headed for a tornado. When he arrives in the land of Oz, he is assumed to be a wizard of legend who is expected to kill the wicked witch and lead the people of Oz. While this is all supposed to play out based on the books of L Frank Baum, the visual style borrows quite liberally from the Warner Bros. classic, with enough variation to probably escape litigation. This does include the look of Emerald City from afar, the throne room, the yellow brick road and even the appearance of the wicked witch of the west among others. The world of Oz itself is beautifully realised with lots of eye-candy for any design student and casual film-goer. While no one in particular stands out, the primary stars do well, although it is left to James Franco to carry the movie as the smarmy Oz. How well you accept him will depend on how much you might enjoy the movie. His Oz is not entirely sympathetic (that's a given, especially knowing how the character is supposed to be), even right from the beginning. It's supposed to be his journey, and while it might be a predictable path, it's sometimes hard to care especially when everything that appears on screen practically screams, "Prequel!" It also means we know where he's supposed to end up and that the wicked witch of the west won't be defeated here (although why a bucket of water can take her down might make a little more sense now. Then again, they did the same thing in Wicked.). Among the three who play the witches, Indie darling, Michelle WIlliams (playing Glinda), looks a little lost for the most part while Rachel Weisz (Evanora) makes the most of her role. Mila Kunis (Theodora) does as well as she can given the role she has to fill, in more ways than one. There's not really much one can find fault with, but that would also depend on how much you care about the 1939 movie, or the overall saga of the land of Oz. As a movie, it comes across as a design spectacle first, adventure movie second with some very impressive effects. The story is predictable and trite. Personally, and honestly, I felt bored throughout the movie's screening. My mind kept looking at the design, how most of it all was designed for 3D and how it would play in 3D. The only surprise I was anticipating was which of the two - Theodora or Evanora - would become the Wicked Witch of the West, and that was a given really early on (it's been mentioned elsewhere, but I won't mention it here). So, no real surprises in any case. Not even how dull it felt in the end. The design alone warrants the extra rating tho.
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