Westside Steve Posted March 22, 2013 Report Share Posted March 22, 2013 Oz the Great and Powerful Disney PG 130 min Taking on a familiar and famous film, play, television show, or what have you presents a double edged sword. On the up side you have instant familiar, something that everyone knows and loves and has a distinct curiosity regarding your new add fresh approach. On the down side you leave yourself wide open for criticism since everyone knows how their favorite characters look and behave. It's hard enough doing a modern version of anything but especially if, as in the case of OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, you are riffing off of what most critics and fans consider to be one of the greatest films ever made, namely THE WIZARD OF OZ. To be honest I didn't expect this film to be in the same league as the original but I did offer up the benefit of the doubt since it's a Disney production and a pretty bold move. No this isn't a retelling of the old story it's actually a prequel like the new STAR TREK or latest PLANET OF THE APES. Unfortunately what it is not is a particularly bold new look at the story's beginnings. It's the story of a cheap chiseling charlatan, James Franco, who, after one of his many instances of unsavory behavior is whisk you away in a tornado and lands in the merry old Land of Oz. There he will make the acquaintance of some very lovely witches and some honest yet naive townsfolk who believe he is the wizard mentioned in prophecy who will defeat the evil witch and free the people once and for all. Oh to be sure we will learn some ham handed lessons about working together the power of the people etcetera etcetera, but that's about it. This isn't a horrible film and I would imagine it may be quite entertaining for younger audiences but aside from a couple interesting new character additions, one of the Flying bellhop monkeys and a living china doll it isn't very much fun. Still the weak plot isn't all that bothered me here. I thought James Franco did a nice job in 128 HOURS where he was stranded in a crevice. I guess chewing off his limbs is the summit of his acting forte. You really need a strong personality to fill their shoes off Frank Morgan, someone with the talent to bluff, bluster and boast with the best in the business. I'd heard that Robert Downey Jr. had originally been slated for the role but backed out at the last minute. Hard to imagine there was such a gap in the depth chart fat Franco was next in line but... Anyway since I wasn’t expecting a miracle I didn’t really hate this one, it’s just not very good. The producers should have asked the Wizard for talent. C WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted March 25, 2013 Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 I completely disagree with you Steve and I have to wonder if you maybe were sniffing the poppies a bit too much when you were watching this. I, and my wife, and my co-workers all thought this was an outstanding movie. It was tons of fun, and very entertaining. In fact, I have not seen a more "fun" movie in ages. More than that it really coordinated the mythos of the Wizard of Oz. Most of the characters were well developed and well acted...particularly the wizard who was a charlatan and showman. This was so much fun that when I went home I had to watch the "sequel". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted March 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 Yes, Gipper, I understand I did see your take on it earlier. To each his own I suppose. WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted March 25, 2013 Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 Yes, Gipper, I understand I did see your take on it earlier. To each his own I suppose. WSS Yes, I am entitled to my opinion. You, too, are entitled to my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miktoxic Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 i actually rented this on pay per view this past weekend. first off disney does a great job of not pulling any punches when it comes to production of a movie. from start to finish i thought the story flowed like a nice and easy straight river. although it did kind of slow down for a minute before the climatic end. don't like franco as an actor but he did a better job than i had hoped for. this prequel should set up nicely if they ever do decide to redo the original wizard of oz. having overseen direction and production on both 2d and 3d content for advertising, i thought it was an amazing mix of the 2. i could just imagine the hundreds of interns churning out layer upon layer of maya wireframes and another hundred who just colored and textured. anyhoo the characters were very cool and if you can wrap yourself around a realistically filmed actor talking to a 3d painted monkey then you should be fine as the story will keep you entertained to the end and hoping to see what they could do with the classic original given the technology of today. i give it a solid A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted July 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Thanks for the take Mike. You are much more generous than I. WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoorta Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 I think I might have tossed this out here once before, but it bears repeating. The Si-Fy Channel did a mini-series tribute to the Wizard of OZ called "Tin Man". It's available on NetFlix. It's its own story- no Wizard, just "Mystic Man"- (Richard Dryfus), and no Dorothy, just DG (Zoie Dechanel). Instead of the Wicked Witch of the West you have the Sorceress Askadelia. Way darker than the original. Think the Wizard of Oz meets Star Trek, Star Wars. Absolutely loved it, and own the Blu-Ray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miktoxic Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 I think I might have tossed this out here once before, but it bears repeating. The Si-Fy Channel did a mini-series tribute to the Wizard of OZ called "Tin Man". It's available on NetFlix. It's its own story- no Wizard, just "Mystic Man"- (Richard Dryfus), and no Dorothy, just DG (Zoie Dechanel). Instead of the Wicked Witch of the West you have the Sorceress Askadelia. Way darker than the original. Think the Wizard of Oz meets Star Trek, Star Wars. Absolutely loved it, and own the Blu-Ray. i actually had that on my netflix to get play list. looked really cool. saw a couple trailers on youtube and am still intrigued. like the off-the-wall trippy cine. heard they made it pretty cheap. i don't know if sci-fi produced it. i thought it was a low budget student film. have to actually watch it now. btw. stopped my netflix account. it seemed there were more movies on my 'not available' list than those available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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