
James Franco as Oz, (left) and the character Finley, voiced by Zach Braff, are shown in a scene from "Oz the Great and Powerful."
Movie review by ROGER MOORE, of McClatchy Newspapers
In the movies version of March Madness, Sam Raimi turns out to be a much better Tim Burton than Bryan Singer. Unlike Giant Slayer Singer, Sams got a sense of humor. Taking on a prequel to the fairytale that frightened generations, Sam does scary. And does it well.
Oz the Great and Powerful is a winning back-engineering of the Oz fantasy, a How the Wizard got to be wonderful romp that is a stunning update of The Wizard of Ozs effects, and the most gorgeous use of 3-D since Alice in Wonderland.
Screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire manage just enough whimsy to make the movies two hours pass without irritation. Raimi, having cut his teeth on horror and brought Spider-Man to life, was the right guy to make this emerald-tinted world pop off the 3-D screen.
But the cast, plainly packed with second or third choices, lets it down. Is there anything in James Francos past that suggests larger-than-life, a fast-talking, womanizing con-man?
And the three witches Theodora, Evanora and Glinda are Bland, Blander and Blond Bland.
Oscar Oz Diggs is a magician who escapes the cut-rate Baum Bros. Circus in 1905 Kansas only to be swept, by tornado, to the Merry Olde Land of Oz. Where things arent merry.
The king is dead, and the prophecy says that only a great wizard can replace him. Plainly, the guy with the same name as the place is their man.
Intrigues? The witch Theodora (Mila Kunis, never prettier) is smitten with him, her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) is jealous. They want the wizard to rid Oz of the Great Menace, Glinda (Michelle Williams), which Oz, easily bribed, agrees to do.
Sidekick? That would be Finley, a flying monkey Oz saves, who then owes a life debt to the pretend-wizard. Hes amusingly voiced by Zach Braff.
Oz must trek and travel by bubble through the far corners of Oz and sort out who the real villain is and how to fight the hideous, 3-D flying baboons who have supplanted the flying monkeys.
Franco, as Oz, turns on the charm and oozes insincerity as he passes on what hes learned, conning small-town tent-show audiences Lies, the stepping stones on the road to greatness.
But the witches an Oscar winner, an Oscar nominee and a Golden Globe nominee among them havent the necessary vamp to make these conjurers sing. A trip to Wicked would have helped.
Even with the stunning production design done by Alice in Wonderland Oscar winner Robert Stromberg which starts our story in a black-and-white Kansas, where humor and pathos pop up, even with Danny Eflmans playful score, this Oz starts to drag in under an hour.
You may miss the witches guards (Raimi crony Bruce Campbell is one) song Oooo weee oh. As the climactic battle story arc of way too many filmed fairytales settles in, you may find yourself checking the time and asking, Donde estan los Munchkins?
But fear not. Uncle Sam knows what you want. And when hes done giving a new generation of tykes frights about apes that fly in the night, hell cover it all. If it isnt Oz without Dorothy and those ruby red slippers, hell at least do justice to L. Frank Baums malleable wizarding world and give us an Oz worthy of our times.