Oz the Great and Powerful has certainly cast a spell over me. Having enjoyed the original a handful of times over my life, I was looking forward to seeing what Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Drag me to Hell) would do with the prequel. And it definitely retains the magic!
Raimi appears to have stayed pretty faithful to the books by Frank L Baum (which surprisingly only resulted in 1 film about the land of Oz, being the original Wizard of Oz) and followed the same winning formula as the original film. It opens in the early 1900s, in black and white, telling the tale of travelling circus illusionist Oscar. Oscar is about to get into a little bit of trouble thanks to his womanising, lying ways and goes on the run in his hot air balloon, which is caught up in a tornado that transports him to the land of Oz which we experience in full colour, glorious 3D visuals. Once in Oz, Oscar has a series of adventures with characters who also appeared in the black and white opening.
Landing in Oz, Oscar meets the witch Theodora (Mila Kunis) who quickly falls for his charms as they journey towards the Emerald City where Oscar is supposed to fulfil the prophecy of the great and powerful wizard who will defeat the Wicked Witch and free the land of Oz forever. But Theodora hasn't realised Oscar is nothing more than a conman and womaniser. Her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) rules the Emerald City waiting for the prophesied wizard and it is she who reveals the task he must complete before he can take the throne and treasure. Oscar reluctantly agrees and sets out on his task with his monkey butler, which leads to a series of character building adventures, narrow escapes, and scary moments as he meets Glinda the Good Witch (Michelle Williams) and the Wicked Witch. Yes, the flying monkeys are just as scary in this version as they were for young 'uns in The Wizard of Oz.
I won't reveal any more than that and although there have been a few spoilers going around in magazines and TV spots, I still enjoyed the twists and turns of finding out who the Wicked Witch is and it's not necessarily what you think even taking the spoilers into account. I will only say that I was quite happy with the outcome and I think that it segues into the original film really nicely.
The four main actors do a great job, completely immersed in this fantastical storyline. James Franco is handsome, shallow and a great showman as required. All three of the witches are absolutely beautiful on the screen and do well with the little backstory they are given. The supporting characters are all well drawn though.
I do recommend seeing this in 3D as the visuals are completely stunning and they've made full use of the 3D with things flying past you and poking out at you regularly. It really enhances the magical element and the immersion in this other world. My only complaint would be the pacing - it is quite long and while it would otherwise be suitable for young kids, the ones that don't like sitting still for 2 hours are going to struggle. I would have trimmed the beginning and a few later scenes and spent a little more time establishing Theodora and Oscar's relationship which seemed to progress a little quickly to be so serious to Theodora when Oscar leaves.
Great fun, pretty to look at and I give this four out of five stars!
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