Magical world: Oz the Great and Powerful

MANILA, Philippines – It’s easy to question the need for a prequel to the classic “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). While it attempts to add onto a much-loved film classic that might be better left alone, there’s a lot of other material set in the Oz world which might be better to do than a prequel, and there  are a lot of other fantasy properties that could be explored.

“Oz the Great and Powerful” never addresses or justifies its existence in the context of those questions. 

But it doesn’t seem interested in doing so. What the film wants to do is create a brand new adventure romp that maximizes the available technology. And it does so with aplomb. The romp aspects of the film work great. Reading deeper meanings into it, not so much.

Let’s get to the good stuff first. 

It looks amazing. I am sure that generations of people are still willing to visit the Oz of the source film over and over. There’s a charm and magic to it that stand the test of time. “Oz the Great and Powerful” taps into the charm and magic of the setting, providing familiar places and images but updating them and utilizing technology to create an even more eye-popping and immersive world. 

There’s some definite nostalgia factor being drawn from here. Fans will be pointing out familiar shots and situations, and I could not help ooh-ing and aah-ing when I made the connections to things the prequel “sets up” for the source film story. Inevitably there are inconsistencies between source and update, but those are generally forgivable. 

Less forgivable is the generally easy route the story takes. Even less forgivable is the way that the 3 leading women swoon so easily for the charlatan Oz.

The story follows the standard Hero’s Journey. We’ve get the reluctant hero, the titular Oz, who is a magician at a traveling circus. And who is also popular with the ladies. James Franco does a pretty good job of bringing this version of the character to life.

We first meet him when he’s putting the moves on an innocent country girl, and throughout Franco sells Oz with a sly smile. Better yet he drips with smarminess. It’s a far cry from the sad old man of the original film, but if you can set that aside then it’s alright. 

While Oz has been pulling shams on people (unexplained what exactly, but he does get chased by a strong man, which leads to his getting into a hot air balloon and his traveling to the land of Oz) and wooing naive girls, he has been harboring dreams of true greatness which he has never tried to live up to.

This leads to the second major quality of the wizard: his need for redemption. 

So he’s a smarmy dude who has been using people, but he wants to be a better person. Lo and behold, a whole world opens up before him, a world named after him, that has been waiting for him to take the throne. 

There are a few twists here and there with the 3 witches, played by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weiss. Each purports to be aiding Oz in his quest to take the throne and save the world. But as events in the film run, revelations are made and we find out who is good and who’s bad. 

It’s here that I think the films run into trouble. While in the service of plot some of these twists work, in terms of meaning and subtext, they are problematic. Also, the story’s treatment of some characters, particularly Kunis’s, feels unfair and unearned. 

That said, if you can leave the apprehensions behind and enjoy the spectacle, there’s a lot to enjoy. Sam Raimi has made a few of the highest-grossing films of all time with his two Spider-Man films, and he exhibits his flair for action and big scenes here. There are some great chase sequences, some tense sequences that will have you holding your breath, and an amazing climax that goes big without resorting to the usual big battle sequence. 

The original film still seems even more sincere when it goes for emotion, despite its obviously dated costumes and style. Still, there are some tender moments to be enjoyed here, especially in the scenes when we see the wizard’s charlatan facade being chipped away (often by the ludicrously named China Girl). 

While watching “Oz the Great and Powerful” I was sold on the magic of the world. I enjoyed being able to visit Oz again, and in such a wonderful and creative way as Raimi has constructed and presented it.

It is engrossing and I can imagine kids of today being just as enchanted and swept away as generations have been by the original. It has got its problems; but as a whole, it’s a fun, exciting experience. – Rappler.com

 

(‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ is screening in Philippine cinemas.)

Carljoe Javier doesn’t know why people think he’s a snarky film critic who spends his time dashing the hopes of filmgoers. He thinks he’s not all that bad, really. He teaches at the State U, writes books, and studies film, comics, and video games… Then again, those people could be right.