Courtesy: Walt Disney Studios
Oz The Great and Powerful is one more example of why Hollywood has got to break away from its seemingly unending trend of churning out sequels, prequels, and remakes. It is a good movie in its own right, thanks to the set design, special effects, and costume/makeup department. But in terms of its story, it suffers to the point that it largely becomes memorable only for those factors. The combination of special effects, set design, and costume design are more than worthy of applause in their attempts to bring older audiences back to the world of Oz after nearly seventy-four years since that world first appeared to the masses. They are just as laudable for introducing younger audiences to the world of Oz for the first time. For the positives, there are two noticeable negatives to the overall presentation. Those negatives are the intertwining of lead actor James Franco’s acting and the overall story. In weighing these factors together, Oz The Great and Powerful becomes more a movie that will be remembered less as one of Disney’s standout greats, and more as just another in the ongoing mass of prequels, sequels, and remakes constantly being churned out by Hollywood.
The combination of set design, costumes, and special effects goes a long way toward the success of Oz The Great and Powerful. The set designers did an impressive job of balancing actual physical sets and CG backgrounds. One can really tell that a lot of thought and work went into bringing back the world of Oz. As hard as the set designers tried though, it lacks a certain something that the sets from the previous movie had. Perhaps the problem with the sets in this movie was that those who crafted them tried too hard to pay tribute to the original work. The result is that it didn’t feel as….pure. They felt “spit-shined” for lack of better wording. Though, the special effects make up for that. That is especially the case late in the movie when it is revealed how the Wizard’s famous floating head originally came to be. That effect alone is worth the wait. It’s really the best special effects moment in the entire two-hour plus story.
The sets and special effects play their own role in the overall outcome of this story, as has been noted. They are only part of the movie’s positive side. Just as impressive as the sets and special effects are the costumes and makeup. While Disney wasn’t behind The Wizard of Oz, those behind the creation of this work are to be commended for creating costumes that throw back to the original movie, right down to the guards’ uniforms. And while some might have their own thoughts on the witch’s costume, one must take into account that this is a prequel. Therefore, the costume had to fit the person and personality. Of course, speaking of the witch, this is where things get bad for Oz The Great and Powerful.
So much went right for Oz The Great and Powerful in looking at the sets, costumes, and special effects. What went wrong with the movie was the script and the acting of one James Franco. The whole story of Oz The Great and Powerful is an origin story of sorts. It tells not only of how the Wizard came to be the famed figure that he was, but also of how the Wicked Witch came to be wicked. Not to give away too much, but the two stories play together as they are centered on a figure who is a completely immature young man and three sisters who throw themselves at him just like the women back in Kansas. Oz plays all three of the sisters just as he played the women back in Kansas. One of those sisters ends up becoming the now infamous Wicked Witch of the West. Even as the movie nears its finale, it is difficult to believe Oz has any sincerity as he faces off with the Wicked Witch. One wants to root for Oz, but it’s next to impossible as at every chance he has to grow, he instead maintains his cocky nature right up to the end. Yes, he’s a young character, being that this is a prequel. But it would have been nice to see some personal growth and humility as the Wizard at least showed in The Wizard of Oz. But that doesn’t happen. Because of that, there’s no real moral lesson learned here. There is not even an actual romance story so to speak. In the end, what everything boils down to with Oz The Great and Powerful is that this movie will be more memorable less for its story or acting than for its production values. Keeping this in mind, it will largely be one of Disney’s less memorable movies in its decades long list of much better movies. Because of that, it is a movie that is worth at least one watch, but really not much more.
philspicks 