Oz the Great and Powerful

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

Everyone in their lifetime as seen The Wizard of Oz if they are any sort fan of cinema. It was such a groundbreaking movie for it's time and was the building block for much of our film landscape today. I truly wish that I could have been one of those movie goers sitting in the theatre for the first time when Dorothy opens the door and color filled the screen. That had to have been a breathtaking moment for anyone who got to experience it. That being said...I understand that nothing can compare to the original...and I understand that nothing should try to be compared to the original....that is not what I am trying to do.
Oz the Great and Powerful was a huge disappointment. There where so many great elements going into the film; Sam Rami directing, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weiss, and Michelle Williams staring just seemed to be a recipe for a fantastic time in front of the silver screen. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Right away the movie starts off in black and white. While I do appreciate the homage that it was trying to play to the original Wizard of Oz, there really is no need. Maybe if the storyline grabbed me from the beginning I wouldn't have cared so much, but I felt like it was trying to be like the original movie, and that just wasn't going to work.
I found that visually the movie was less than impressive as well. Everything now a days in CGI. CGI has allowed us to explore many different areas of film that we might now have been able to experience otherwise, but I feel that we have become to dependent on it for our movies. It was was to over the top for me, and WAY to computer looking. Even the way the characters moved around was just to artificial. Many movies have been visually stunning without CGI.
I also really hated the 3D...so unnecessary. Nothing was enhanced for me with the 3D at all. I really hate this whole 3D gimmick and I hope that it goes away soon. It takes away from the real point of a movie---to tell a good story.

The story itself really was not that interesting either. Someone said to me that it was because I already knew how the story ends. This is not true. I love stories that take place as prequels so to speak. There are so many possibilities open to HOW you got to the beginning of that movie in the first place. It is no different then making a sequel. BUT how you tell that story is important. This one lack any sort of excitement. I really didn't care about any of the characters, and to be honest with you, I don't know if it was because I was bored from the beginning of the movie, or if the movie lacked the character development necessary for you to really develop a taste for who the characters are. The actors where way to over the top and it was not an endearing over the top that was part of the movie or the characters themselves. You almost felt like you where watching a bad cartoon. I don't know if that was what Rami was trying to go for, but that was really not the way to go. Oz is supposed to be almost like a real place. The people are supposed to feel real, but there are those supernatural elements that are thrown in there to make it Oz.
I thought that they tried to remake the original by following that blue print-complete with meeting some friends along the way and giving them special gifts at the end. Now I have never read the novels, and someone told me that this was close to the novel, but I cannot say one way or the other. Either way, the screenwriting was not very good at all. THAT is what makes or breaks a story. You can have the greatest novel of all times, but if all the elements are not there to help it.... you won't have anything at all to go on.
 
 
 
I guess you could say that I really didn't like this movie. hahaha If this was something that I was watching at home on TV I would have changed the channel about 15 mins. into it. I would really suggest waiting until this one comes out on DVD to see it, but if you really feel the need to go to the theatre DO NOT GO SEE THE 3D. Not really the somewhere over the rainbow I was hoping for.