Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

MY GOOOD! I can believe they did that.I don't even know where to start. This movie is incredibly able to have worse effects than the one of 1939. It is worse than the Star Wars prequel's. Most of the CGI is without details and without life (except for the Porcelain Doll), it seems even a lazy production, EVEN THE TREES ARE MADE WITH GRAPHIC COMPUTING! WHY?! WHYYY?!That wouldn't be such a big problem if the movie was good, but that's not the case. From the beginning the movie tries to take the nostalgia of the original. For example, in the beginning, that just like the iconic 39's movie starts without colors and only when we get to Oz do they appear. However, even on that the film fails, starting with the black and white image, when the original is brown and white. From then on several forced citations and small references are played during the movie to perhaps make you care (like the various references to Scarecrows).That said, let's look at the story itself, without considering that this thing tries to serve as a prequel to the work of art that was launched in the 1930s. The plot (if you can call it a plot) is confusing and things do not seem to happen for any particular reason, the perfect example of this is the transformation of "Theodora" into "Wicked Witch." The goal is to look like she had a broken heart, so she decided to turn bad once (eating an apple? Really?), That would even work, but how long had she interacted with the Magician? 2 DAYS?! And how can she be that stupid? How can everyone in the city be so dumb, to spend decades on the command of a tyrant and evil Witch and not realize? Look, I know it's a fantastic world, I know that even the original follows very basic premises of fantasy and that being too critical isn't very correct, but to me that's lazy to try to make a minimally coherent story, not a complex story, just a coherent one.I'm going to skip the bad performances (James Franco), not to mention that only ridiculous things surround the movie, there are three cool things worth highlighting (but they do not change the quality of the movie very much, nor do they make it worth your time).It is clear that every single scene Mila Kunis is trying to do something cool, and from the moment she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, for me, she delivers a performance that lives up to the original, with the character's striking features.The final "battle", when it is shown the great trick that Oz planned is a good scene, it seems something the original Wizard would do, even though it is a predictable scene, it is good. Pay attention, this scene is good, the """battle""" of the two Witch's after that isn't.And finally, by far the best thing in the movie: Michelle Williams. She is simply fantastic as Glinda, every moment she appears on the scene no one else matters, it's amazing how she managed to do something extremely faithful to Billie Burke's performance, and at the same time add something more to this character that doesn't appear much in the first movie. Amazing! Wonderful! Beautiful! But that's it, she's the only great thing in the whole movie.OH! One more thing I remembered: DO YOU REALLY NEED TO EXPLAIN THE F#CKING BROOM ?! Seriously?!

Don't look for "Wicked" in this prequel to the 1939 classic, loosely based upon other L. Frank Baum stories. This stars James Franco as the future wizard of Oz who manages to break away from a black and white/non- widescreen Kansas tornado and fly into the colorful but often sinister land of Oz where he meets three beautiful women of various stages of morality and goodness. Then, there's a cute winged monkey, a seemingly sweet (but annoying) china doll and other familiar looking old friends from the original "The Wizard of Oz".Two sisters (Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz) are running the Emerald City when the king of humbug arrives, and it is obvious that they are the future demonic rulers of the west and east. Who is who is not obvious, although the presence of Glinda is clear, if not as glamorous in Michelle Williams' hands as it was in Billie Burke's. Far more sinister to meet modern experience expectations, that is to the film's detriment. Obviously rushed out to capitalize on the success of Broadway's "Wicked", it makes that slightly over- rated musical seem a classic. This gets often overly silly and frequently mean-spirited, something that the charm of the original managed to avoid thanks to its innocence. The character of Theodora, the name given to the witch of the West, is simply turned into a vindictive crone, consumed with revenge over unrequited love towards the wizard. By adding a romantic attachment with two of the witches goes against the grain of the original story. The witch of the west seems to cackle out of nowhere, even when loosing her cause, and isn't at all as fascinating as Margaret Hamilton's witch or Elphaba of "Wicked" fame. Getting to know the witch of the east is a little more interesting, especially for those who have not seen "Wicked", although no reference is given to how she ended up ruling Munchkin City. References are hinted at that the Wizard knew Dorothy Gale's parents, but nothing is further explored in that realm. Certainly, 1939's MGM classic became famous slowly over time (thanks to TV), but that most likely will not happen with this film.

James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams star in Sam Raimi's 2013 fantasy adaptation of L. Frank Baum's books. This begins in early 1900's Kansas and Franco (Spider-Man) plays Oscar aka Oz, a small-time, circus/carnival magician who is taken to magical kingdom, Oz after being caught in a tornado where he meets new friends and sees bizarre things. After meeting attractive witches, Theodora (Kunis), Evanora (Weisz) and Glinda (Williams), he finds himself in a battle of good & evil testing his magic abilities and proving himself as a powerful wizard for the people of Oz. This is sort of a prequel to the 1939 classic, "The Wizard of Oz" and it's not bad. The cast is OK, there's beautiful visuals and Danny Elfman's score is excellent as usual. Bruce Campbell & Ted Raimi also appear briefly and I recommend giving this a try at least once.

The Wizard's Journey to Oz.Starring James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz.Written by Mitchell Kapner, David Lindsay-Abaire, based on the original stories by L.Frank Baum.Directed by Sam Raimi.If you want to watch a fun, family film at Christmas you can't really do better than this.It has all the ingredients to keep you glued to the screen. It's funny, imaginative, well acted and will make you feel warm and fuzzy in all the right places, It tells the story of what happened immediately before Dorothy and Toto arrived on Oz and it is faithful to the original movie.I also liked how they included the the land of china from the original book by L. Frank Baum. That was a nice touch. This is fun with a capital F. Perfect for Christmas.9/10