Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful tells the story of how the wizard of Oz got there in the first place. James Franco stars in the title role as a selfish carnival magician who is swept away by a cyclone into the magical world of Oz, where a beautiful witch played by Mila Kunis informs him that his coming was prophesied and he must defeat the wicked witch plaguing the land with her evils. He must then become king and make her his queen, she also points out, and he doesn’t really do well with relationships and such. He does want the treasure that comes with being king, though, so at the advice of another witch played by Rachel Weicsz, he takes off to destroy the evil witch. She turns out to actually be the good witch Glinda, played by Michelle Williams, and she and he team up to destroy the other witches who are actually very evil.

I was tempted not to describe the plot of the film. Nobody who wants to see it probably cares all that much as to what story it’s actually telling and those same people will probably not care for my saying that it’s all very boring. I know that this is a movie that places visual splendor above all else, but if you’re going to make a movie with such obvious connections to one of the (if not the) most beloved of all films, you should be making a movie that is at least a little creative and fun, by gum. The Oz in this film is a vast, computer-animated dreamscape that is surprisingly bland. The film’s opening scenes are black and white and in the standard ratio, so that the first scenes in Oz can stretch to a colorful widescreen. This moment should be magical and exciting, but is instead extremely underwhelming. This movie is all about effects and that might have been fine if they weren’t so uninspired in both design and delivery. The animated characters are constantly unconvincing and the look of this fantasy world is unfortunately unoriginal.

I wanted to avoid making comparisons between this movie and the 1939 classic we all know and love because that would be rather unfair, but how can I when the new film makes constant comparisons itself? It is full of “aha” moments in describing the origins of characters from the classic, like when Kunis is transformed rather stupidly into the green and cackling Wicked Witch of the West. All the expected faces and places make appearances (the yellow brick road, the Munchkins, the witches, the Emerald City, the Forbidden Forest), but they feel more like a checklist than an effort to evoke any of the magic that these images should carry. Even at over two hours, the movie does nothing to truly expand the story in any necessary way. Yes, we see how the wizard came to Oz, but that’s an illogical idea from the start. No movie version of the Oz books has ever really followed their origin very closely, and since this movie is paying homage to the ’39 film, it is set up to be a dream of the wizard’s like it was for Dorothy. Yet, by film’s end, the land is treated like a real place, and a romance between the wizard and Glinda is blossoming even though no sign of such a relationship is evident when Dorothy arrives.

The whole movie reeks of a lazy half-heartedness that isn’t enjoyable to watch. I would have much preferred a movie that tackled the Oz books in a fresh new way instead of one that persistently harps on the look and feel of the other movie adaptation without ever coming close to accessing its stature. An origin story that actually had anything interesting to say would have been just as good. Where did Oz come from and how do you get there? Who were the witches’ parents or any other ancestors for that matter? What is the significance of the ruby slippers? If the filmmakers had bothered to try to come up with something other than a run-of-the-mill adventure clearly meant to sell merchandise to a new generation, it might have been special. Even without comparing this movie to any other, it is still an unnecessary experience on its own. This is a movie only kids who don’t know any better could love. It lacks interest, imagination, excitement, humor, thrills, or any of the things good entertainment should have. I have already heard people defending it with that wretched expression, “It’s not that bad.” Yes, I suppose there are worse things you and your family could see, but there are also far, far better ones as well. Why settle for mediocrity just because it’s “not that bad?” It might be time to break out a certain 70-year old fairy tale that is actually worth your time.

4/10