Oz the Great and Powerful - 7 stars out of 10

Oz the Great and Powerful - 7 stars out of 10

“Oz The Great and Powerful” exceeded my low expectations (which were set by everybody who seemed to hate this film).  A few criticisms: Too much CGI, James Franco for the first half hour of the film, the underdeveloped love story between Oscar and Theodora, and the lack of show tunes (though it is pretty hilarious when the film begins a song and the characters put an end to it on screen).  While this film is not infallible like 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz,” the writers included a lot of cool elements into the final product.  First was the idea to revisit the original’s transition from black and white to color by beginning the story with a standard 4:3 ratio in black and white with mono sound and, once Oscar arrives in Oz, expanding the screen into 2.35:1 widescreen in color with surround sound.  Throughout the film, there are all sorts of subtle references to the 1939 film as it hints at the origins of the Scarecrow, foreshadows the Wicked Witch’s aversion to water, implies the engagement of Dorothy’s parents, and introduces the Tin Man’s creator.  I am really looking forward to watching this film again to pick out more of these allusions and to make connections between the characters in Kansas and Oz that are played by the same actor.  The acting is hit or miss, and I actually find the smaller roles to be the ones that caught my eye.  While James Franco improves throughout the film (and the improvement is relative to his awful acting at first), actors like Billy Cobbs as the Master Tinker, the voices of Zach Braff and Joey King as Finley and China Girl, and Michelle Williams at the beginning of the film as Annie are the ones that really shine.  Mila Kunis is great until she becomes the Wicked Witch, at which point she just comes off as a green-faced Meg from “Family Guy,” and of course Rachel Weisz is great all around (I love her).  The story doesn’t seem great, but that is because it is up against constant comparison to one of the greatest films in history.  The CGI is a double-edged sword – it turns Oz into a magical place but takes away from the true movie magic created in the original film before CGI existed.  “Wizard of Oz” fans will be critical of this film because it isn’t “The Wizard of Oz,” but if you can separate yourself from the inevitable comparisons, you may find that “Oz the Great and Powerful” is an interesting homage to one of the greatest films in history.