Oz: The Great and Powerful
For a generation of movie fans, I think the idea of a family-friendly, PG-rated Sam Raimi film would be the last thing expected from the director of the “Evil Dead” trilogy. Even after the “Spider-Man” movies made him a bankable name, he returned to horror with “Drag Me to Hell,” which was PG-13, but still a potent piece of genre terror. And when it comes to finding someone to return moviegoers to the wonderful land of Oz on the big-screen, even a fan like myself would be hesitant to put the director even in the top 10 of hopefuls.
Nonetheless, here we are, with a mega-budget return to the world of author L. Frank Baum courtesy Disney, the producer of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and the director of “Army of Darkness,” “Darkman,” and “A Simple Plan.” The results are as visually stunning as we would expect, with a use of 3D that rivals the standard-bearers of the form (“Hugo” and “Life of Pi”), and it would be hard to believe if this film wasn’t an Academy favorite in several below-the-line categories in 2014. But can such heavyweights make an adventure as delightfully timeless as the 1939 musical classic that set a high bar for cinematic fantasy few others have managed to reach?
The more I think about it, the answer, unfortunately, is no. Though hardly the narrative silliness of Burton’s revisionist “Wonderland,” “Oz: The Great and Powerful” still manages moments of bloated, big-budget adventure that feel out-of-place in what should be something deeper about personal responsibility and emotional growth. After all, the story of Dorothy, and her journey “over the rainbow,” was exactly that in 1939…shouldn’t the wizard (played by James Franco, who isn’t quite as endearing as the character should be), a con man who is a magician in a traveling circus in turn-of-the-century Kansas, have a similar arc?
In reality, the film comes closer to that arc than you think immediately after seeing it. After he gets caught up in a tornado in his balloon, and swept away to Oz, he is quickly encountered by Theodora (Mila Kunis), one of three sister witches whom have looked over Oz since the death of their father, the king. Franco’s Oscar, known as Oz back in Kansas, seems to fulfill the prophecy of one who will come to this land, destroy the Wicked Witch that has terrorized Oz, and take his rightful place on the throne. But we know that Oscar is a bit of a fraud, someone adept at cheap illusions and conning pretty women, something he, unwisely, continues in Oz, even when he’s sent with a monkey companion (Finley, played by Zachary Levi, who also plays Oscar’s put-upon assistant in the sepia-toned, box-framed Kansas scenes) to the Dark Forest to kill the witch. It’s not long before Oscar realizes how much over his head he really is.
Franco just can’t really make the role work for me. He’s got some enjoyable moments, but he feels a little too detached to make me believe this character. Thankfully, there are three charismatic women as the witches who help pick up the slack. Kunis shines in the early moments, and when she goes bad later, it’s a wicked delight, even if it lacks the nightmare-inducing terror of Margaret Hamilton’s iconic performance in “The Wizard of Oz.” As Evanora, Rachel Weisz has the most intriguing material of the three, and the Oscar-winner doesn’t disappoint with a finely-tuned over-the-top performance. As Glinda the Good, Michelle Williams feels the most flat, but of course, it’s also the least interesting character, as well; still, she gives us plenty of reason to root for the peaceful people of Oz during an epic finale.
It’s during that finale where Raimi is at his visionary best as a director. Throughout, he uses the most cutting-edge technology to create a wonderous visual landscape, but there were also moments where it felt like Raimi went deliberately low-tech, paying homage to the dated, practical effects tricks that helped bring the classic “Oz” to life in 1939. Those moments were some of the ones that I enjoyed watching the most, because they showed, to me, at least, that even with the ease and imagination capable of CGI technology, there is still room for some of the old ways in telling a story that we hope will stand the test of time. I don’t know that Raimi’s film will last as long as the Victor Fleming masterpiece has, but it certainly has images that make it well worth our time to take in.
