Movie of the Week: Oz the Great and Powerful

[jacey]

Given that this (at 2 hours and 7 minutes) was too long by about 20 - 30 minutes, it might have been quite good if condensed. The effects were fine and it says something that you no longer wonder about live actors performing with CGI monkeys and china dolls, but James Franco failed to totally convince as Oscar, an untrustworthy second-rate carnival magician with a penchant for the ladies who is whisked off to the land of Oz in a twister while trying to escape a jealous boyfriend. In Oz he meets three witches where he's expected to fulfill a prophecy and rescue the land of Oz from the wicked witch. But just who is the wicked witch? There are three of them and things are not what they seem. Eventually he sorts out the good from the evil and uses his arts of carnival illusion to save the day and more or less redeem himself.

I'd put it in the same category as the recent Alice in Wonderland. Pretty but pointless. Sorry.

Comments

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

You're kinder than some of the pro critics!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I must be in a benign mood today. Though you should also note that in comparison to Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters (last week's offering) anything looks good.

[teriegarrison.livejournal.com]

I wanted to like it...but alas. I get that they're trying to mimic the effect of 'OMG COLOUR!!!' from the original film, but, ahem, it's waaaay too late to wow viewers with CGI and 3D. I saw it in 2D, and you could totally tell what parts were just wandering around for the 'oh cool 3d' response, which made the first half drag horribly.

And FFS....when you spend that much on a film, get actors who can actually, yanno, act. The gal who played Theodora was so incredibly wooden!

The second half moved better than the first and actually developed a bit of plot, but I'm sure glad I didn't pay to see the film. (I have an unlimited pass.)

That said, my friends -- in their mid- to late-20s -- enjoyed it much more than I did.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Yes, we saw the 2-D version as well. I think I would have hated it even more in 3D.