OZ: The Great and Powerful

OZ: The Great and Powerful

I love when movies surprise me.

I really had no expectations for OZ: The Great and Powerful. I was interested in seeing it, but I expected not to be impressed.  As a child, I never missed the primetime yearly showing of the The Wizard of Oz; however, I was never in love with it.  I never wanted to be Dorothy or wear her slippers, but I did love Toto. 

What I really loved about the new OZ is that it’s a nice throwback to what a family film used to be. It was fun, entertaining, well told and the visuals alone were worth the ticket price.  I don’t want to give any spoilers about the plot, but the film does a nice job paying homage to the original film by starting in sepia tone and moving into glorious color. Adults will love it because of the winks and nods to the original and just for the sheer journey back to OZ to see how it all began.  Kids will love it for all the reasons you loved the original, the magic, the world and the characters. 

 The performances are great all around, including James Franco as the Wizard, which I was the most concerned with, but he really proved himself to me in the last 45 minutes of the film.  I know originally the role was supposed to go to Robert Downey Jr. and, although I would have loved to see what he would have done with the role of the Wizard, Franco was good in the end.

Sam Raimi does a nice job directing, but don’t expect too many Raimi touches.  You can however expect a Bruce Campbell cameo, but I’m not saying where.  

Overall, if you’re at all curious about this movie, I recommend going to see it. It’s definitely a great family film and a nice way to introduce the kiddies to the wonderful land of OZ.  The 3D was nice, but I’m not going to say you have to see it that way.