Oz, The Great and Powerful
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams
This film is a prequel to the
Wizard of Oz, the classic book by L. Frank Baum and classic film adaptation by MGM. It details how the wizard became who he is, from his start in Kansas to his rule in Oz. We know from
The Wizard of Oz that he's no more than a man behind a curtain playing parlor tricks, yet somehow he managed to rule a kingdom. How is that possible? Does his film adequately answer that question? The answer is yes and no, and as a result, the film is a mixed bag.
In short, the wizard Oz, who works in a small carnival but dreams of greatness, accidentally lands in Oz after escaping the carnival in a hot air balloon. There, he counters Theodora and her sister Evanora, and is sent on a mission to the dark woods to kill the wicked witch. Along the way, he befriends a flying monkey and a porcelain girl. Of note, the CG effects here are somewhat lacking, but the monkey has such a good personality, he quickly becomes a highlight of the film. And, if I recall correctly, the porcelain girl was in the novel
Wizard of Oz. Anyway, along the way he encounters Glinda the good witch, who brings him to her area of Oz and the people fall in love with him, and believe he can save them from the wicked witches, namely Theodora and Evanora. Evanora tricks her sister into giving up her heart, as her sister was sad that the wizard didn't like her. As a result, she turns into the green witch we know. She terrorizes the people, but Oz is able to use his magic tricks to scare the witches away, rather convincingly, too.
This is where the film reaches it's strongest points. We see the change in the wizard's character, and his desire to help and be better. And we see how, despite having no real magic, he's able to use this tricks of illusion and deception to create a show unlike any the land of Oz has even seen. In the end, he sets up the throne room we know, with his big projected face, and a curtained area with his tricks. And, in a nice homage to the original, he gives his companions gifts. Gifts they already had, but he helps them realize the value of their blessings in life. It's another high point for the film, channeling the heart of the original in these moments.
The film has a bunch of silly humor, however, and the effects just don't do justice to Oz. It's sad when the 1939 film makes Oz seem a more magical place than a modern-day interpretation of the world. The major criticism I have regarding the characters are the witches, namely Theodora. Glinda and Evanora fit their roles as the prototypical good and bad witches. But Theodora should've been made into a character with deeper motivations for who she became. Perhaps reading
Wicked spoiled me, but there, Elphaba (the equivalent to Theodora) was a misunderstood being, mistreated her life, made into a villain. She wasn't evil, and it would've been nice to have even a hint of that here. Instead, she goes from being seemingly good and peace-loving into downright evil without enough justification, at least to me. Perhaps it's because more time was needed to work on the wizard's character. I think maybe Theodora's story should have been slower, and her transformation into the witch done near the end, when she has enough justification to do so. However, by focusing on the wizard and his story, the heart of the film is mostly in the right place, and I think Raimi did a decent, if not stellar job, at detailing Oz before Dorothy landed.
