One of my earliest childhood memories of movie-watching, as
with many people, was my introduction to the 1939 MGM classic, “The Wizard of
Oz”. It captured my imagination, it took me on an adventure, it scared the hell
out of me, and it taught me a few life lessons.
Though
the original still stands as a piece of near-perfect filmmaking, through the
years, the Land of Oz has been represented and reconfigured in a myriad of
different iterations. In 1978 Michael Jackson and Dianna Ross stared in “The
Wiz”, an achingly-70s Motown remake. In
1985 Disney produced “The Return to Oz”, a non-musical, almost-horror, apocalyptic
sequel. Not too long ago Zooey Deschenal played Dorothy in the four-part,
Sci-Fi original series “Tin Man”. And of course, the Broadway play “Wicked” has
simultaneously reimagined “The Wizard of Oz” in a modern and daring way, while
also bringing it back to its showtune roots. So where, in all of this, does “Oz
the Great and Powerful”—a high-budget,
3D prequel, directed by Sam Raimi (“Evil Dead”, “Spiderman”, “A Simple
Plan”…)—fit into the equation?
“Oz the Great and Powerful” tells the story of
a Kansas showman, magician and huckster, played by James Franco, who is whisked
away, somewhere over the rainbow, after a tornado sucks his hot air balloon out
of the sky. When he comes to, he finds himself
displaced from his black and white circus location—shot in a traditional,
square 1.33 aspect ratio—into a fantastically colorful, widescreen environment.
Upon his arrival, he meets two magic-wielding sisters named Theodora (Mila
Kunis) and Evanora (Rachel Weisz). Together they convince him to defeat an evil
witch in order to prove to everyone that he is the prophesized savior of the land.
With the help of a friendly monkey servant (voiced by Zach Braff) and a fragile
porcelain girl (voiced by Joey King) he foolhardily decides to take on the
mission and his plate starts to fill rapidly when he is forced to off center the
corrupt politics Oz, as well as empower the realm’s 99%, all while concealing
the fact that he isn’t a real wizard.
Sam
Raimi, like the title character of this film, is an excellent entertainer and
master of misdirection and illusion. His past in no-budget horror filmmaking
has proven that. He also knows how to ramp everything up and push his most
cinematic moments into nutty, operatic levels. What he doesn’t know how to do
is work in subtlety. Because of this, the movie both rises with his strengths
and falls with his weaknesses.
Surprisingly,
the 3D is used skillfully and some of the CGI characterizations are very
creative and believable—particularly Braff’s monkey and his chinaware companion.
Nevertheless, a lot of the ornamental CGI is distractingly artificial and some of the art direction looks a
bit too “Teletubbies” from time to time.
Though
he never ruins the whole picture, Franco is regrettably miscast, as I never
really bought him as a convincing trickster. Often his line delivery is weirdly
either flat or over-mannered and sometimes both within the same scene. Mila
Kunis as the love-scorned, tragic victim of circumstance also fails to sell her
character’s key transition through the clunky storytelling. Both performers are
capable of better, but Raimi, like always, is more interested in his visuals
than his actors.
However,
even as the plot awkwardly clangs from one eccentric episode to another and the
characters, who are supposed to carry dramatic tension, kind of don’t, the
fast-paced campy dialogue and colorful energy of the film is undeniably
contagious. While the movie might be falling apart by its narrative seams, it
convinces the audience to go along with everything (and the kitchen sink),
because it’s actually exciting to be there. “Oz the Great and Powerful” is an indisputable
mess but it’s a fun mess.
Grade: C+
Originally published in the Idaho State Journal/March-2013
No comments:
Post a Comment