This Oz film is a prequel to the original Wizard of Oz. Being made today, it’s packed with cutting edge CG effects that create the world of Oz and lead the audience through the tale of how Oz became The Wizard of Oz.
It’s a pretty good story with some outstanding visual effects! I can’t shake the view that it’s uneven film from start to finish though. For every good piece, there’s a bad or at the very least a misaligned one. The cast is good, (Michelle Williams doing the best work I think) but the performances suffer from some really awkward dialog and delivery. I blame the writing more as the actor(s) are really just working with what they are given. It takes place in 1905, but there is a lot of weird, contemporary, aggressive/edgy lines that just sound forced and don’t fit (Knuck is the biggest offender, I’m not sure what the writers were going for).
The story fits well, but the movie is a bit long in the tooth. Two hours and fifteen minutes is a long time for this kind of tale. I felt like the end was far and away the most cohesive and best paced (it had the best ideas and follow through with some amazing special effects). The beginning is good as we watch as Oz gets to the land of Oz the same way Dorothy does and understand what kind of man he is. He’s a bit of a cheat, but he is a good person at the core. He meets all sorts of colorful characters (really great work on Finley and China Girl, fantastic animation and detail) and Oz really pops as a fantasy place. The middle is very rocky. The set up for The Wicked Witch to become Wicked is my biggest complaint. It’s stupid and isn’t good enough to have a character become a heel. Yes she’s tricked, but the trick was so vapid and simple that it’s too unbelievable to take seriously. There’s a better way to do it; some restructuring could have gone long way and it isn’t like they were pressed for runtime at over two hours. She looks fantastic though (the costumes are fantastic and the sound design is outstanding as well)!
It’s a striking move visually, there is a lot of camera movement. There are a lot of Raimi tells (especially during action scenes that involve witches). No complaints on the production front from me.
The Great and Powerful is a fun movie, it is PG and there are some visuals that I think could freak out a younger (less than 6) child. I wasn’t too sure what to expected but I came away with mostly positive vibes from it. I think it’s a better movie than Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.