Review: Oz The Great and Powerful

Oz The Great and Powerful is exactly that – Great and Powerful, and it will bring brief happiness to all that watch it...

By Genna Patterson

There are few words to describe the feelings of joy felt at watching Oz The Great and Powerful. If you like fantasy, enjoyed The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and Stardust, then this is your film. Except that Oz The Great and Powerful has surpassed them all. Director Sam Raimi, of the Spiderman trilogy, has outdone himself with an exceptionally spectacular movie, that it's difficult to find fault with.

The story follows a carnival magician, Oz, who gets swept away in a tornado in Kansas, much like Dorothy, and crash-lands in Oz. There, he is hunted by good witches and bad because it is prophesised that a wizard named Oz will come and rule the kingdom. Oz must convince the people of Oz, and the witches that he is as wonderful as he says, while figuring out who the bad witches actually are. 

The film opens in black and white in Kansas, in homage to the original Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz, which did the same. We meet Oscar Diggs/ Oz (James Franco) and his helper, Frank (Zach Braff) at the county fair putting on shows for a pittance. Oz is egotistical, a womaniser and has mixed ethics, and wants to be a great man, not a good one. He is whisked away by a tornado and arrives in Oz, where the movie switches to bright, beautiful technicolour. As could be expected with today’s technology, the land of Oz has a great many strange creatures, including river fairies, delph (as in china tea set) people and flying monkeys.

Mila Kunis is Theodora, the Witch of the West and first to arrive to meet Oz. She is stunning, all leather pants and red velvet hat-wearing as she swiftly falls for Oz who enchants her with his charm and looks. Franco finds it easy to play the charmer, with his cheeky grin and movie star looks, but also comes across believable as the constant chancer, wannabe entertainer and the flakey trickster that he is.

Kunis' performance surprises, as a woman torn apart by love and her transformation is incredible. You would be forgiven for not recognising her, if it weren’t for her give-away voice. She plays the raging female to the hilt and really pushes the limits to witchiness.

Rachel Weisz plays Theodora’s sister, Evanora, the dual character of throne advisor and a wicked witch hell-bent on destroying Oz so that she can take full power of the Emerald city. She is unwavering as she tries to gain control, but Michelle Williams really steals the limelight as Glinda The Good Witch of the South.

While you could feel that any character that is all good could be sickly in large doses, in William’s hands, Glinda is not only good, but has a sense of humour and a twinkly knowing eye to match. You get the idea she’d be great craic on a night out, just as much as she would be if feeding the poor or helping the elderly. Zach Braff also plays Finley, the flying monkey who offers himself as an eternal servant to Oz when he saves his life. 

Braff, mostly computer generated, brings well-timed comedy to the movie and bounces off Franco well. This could be because Raimi had Braff on set acting his lines beside the set whenever his animation was on screen. Finley is a welcome contrast to the other, evil flying baboons controlled by the witch.

The movies of Oz are based on books by L. Frank Baum with the Judy Garland original released in 1939. While that movie is a classic, Raimi would no doubt be welcomed to re-create that movie after this masterpiece he has made. Danny Elfman, renowned music composer scored the movie with the finesse and talent that has come to be expected with his works. 

Oz The Great and Powerful is released in 2D, 3D and IMAX. If you can – go and see it in IMAX, as never before has so much stood out on screen. Snowflakes, spears, fireworks all fly out at the audience and it is so well done, that the inclination to reach out and touch, or duck, becomes commonplace.

Oz The Great and Powerful is an amazing, excellently created production that we challenge you not to enjoy. You may even feel like a child again, as the land of Oz transports you to a place where magic and witches exist. This movie should be held up as the example of how to do a light-hearted fantasy right. Watch out for a cameo by Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead mate, Bruce Campbell as the ‘Winkie Gate Keeper’.

Oz The Great and Powerful is released on Friday March 8 nationwide.