Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful starring James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz was released Friday March 8 and topped the box office charts for two weeks in a row.      

            The movie started out like the original Wizard of Oz released in 1939 starring Judy Garland. It took place during the depression and was filmed in black in white. The black and white film caused it to fell charming and nostalgic. However, the acting didn’t fit the time period. The lines were to modern and so were the characters; completely unbelievable.

            When the picture transitioned to color it felt more like Alice in Wonderland circa 2010 than the Wizard of Oz. The only thing missing was Johnny Depp with a lot of face paint and orange hair.

            All of the colors were vibrant and there were some creatures that were more science fiction like than just mystical.

            As far as the acting goes, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz were flawless and the good and wicked witch, respectively.

 However, I could think of at least a handful of actors that would have played Oz better than James Franco: Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, James McAvoy even James Marsden. Franco didn’t seem to know what to do with the role and like he didn’t know anything about the time period.

            Kunis was also a miss. I am a huge fan of her, but this movie left me a little disappointed with this role. She played the part of Theodora (the wicked-turned-good-turned-wicked witch) in a naïve and air-headed way in the beginning. When she transformed into the wicked witch she fit the role more, and became the strong actress that I love.

            The story line I totally approve of. Being a fan of the original Wizard of Oz, it was a perfect prequel to how the wizard got to the Land of Oz In theory and on paper the story was perfect, in execution it was a little lax.

            There were some characters that I absolutely adored, like the flying monkey, Finely who becomes Franco’s personal assistant and the Porcelain Doll girl that they save from “China Town” after the Wicked Witch attacked it. The two are just adorable and so simple in their own ways that it becomes endearing and it doesn’t feel like they are trying too hard to make the audience like them.

            All-in-all I’d give the movie about a 3 out of 5 star rating, it was a good family movie and was well done in parts and all around decent with room for improvement.