There is no yellow brick road in “Oz the Great and Powerful,” nor are Dorothy’s ruby red slippers on display. But I didn’t miss them. The new “Oz” movie is terrific, captivating entertainment in its own right.
That’s not to say “Great and Powerful” doesn’t feel like a return to the world that has enchanted millions since L. Frank Baum penned his books, and the classic “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” movie first graced theaters in 1939. Plenty of Oz iconography and characters are on display, though sharing which ones will spoil some of the film’s best surprises.
What I will share with you is the sheer wonder I felt as I took in the audacious visual feast laid out before me as I watched the movie the way director Sam Raimi made it to be seen: on a large IMAX screen with a pair of 3D glasses resting on my nose.
Wow. “Great and Powerful” is packed with eye-popping wonders, starting with the arrival of Oscar Diggs in the Land of Oz. As his balloon crash-lands in the breathtaking realm, audiences are treated to several minutes of the spectacular world of Oz unfolding like a blossom in three dimensions. Raimi’s camera swoops through the scenery like a bird, taking in one mouth-gaping marvel after another.
Raimi sustains this level of astonishment throughout the movie, and delivers a climax that tops everything that preceded it.
I’ll also share with you my thoughts on the story, which snaps neatly, like a puzzle piece, into the original movie. As a prequel, it cleverly lays the foundation for the film we know and love. I derived the greatest pleasure from watching what made the classic characters who they are by the time “Wonder Wizard of Oz” begins. It seems Oz was not always so great and powerful, and the wicked witch of the east was not always so wicked. Both change in simple fairytale ways, but also in ways that make sense.
I’ll even share with you my thoughts on the real man behind this particular curtain: Raimi. Fans of his work on the “Evil Dead” movies and, to a lesser degree, the “Spider-Man” trilogy of films, will see his fingerprints all over this thing. I love the way he moves the camera, and his kinetic, slapstick manner of choreographing what takes place within the frame. There’s not a single boring shot in the movie.
But more than that, Raimi has the right sensibilities for the material. “Great and Powerful” requires both childlike wonder and an understanding of how to handle darker moments, and Raimi handles both admirably, though I confess to really enjoying the scenes in which he gives his more sinister impulses reign.
Finally, I’ll also share my thoughts on the casting, which is probably the movie’s only weak point. For starters, I’m not sold on James Franco as Oz. He strikes the right tone for the character, and there’s nothing awkward about his performance, but he doesn’t look the part. Franco is a great actor. Have you seen “127 Hours?” It’s one of the best showcases for an actor in recent years. But here, he seems slightly out of place.
Another excellent actor, Mila Kunis, is slightly clumsy in some of her scenes, which surprised me, although she does have the hardest role in the movie – one that might have been out of her comfort zone. But she delivers in enough scenes that few people will notice the rough edges.
I haven’t told you much about the story. In a nutshell, Gibbs is a smalltime magician working for a second-rate traveling carnival, and a womanizing schmuck to boot. Circumstances, and cowardice, place him in a balloon that throws him into a twister and carries him to Oz, where a wicked witch has besieged the people. When he arrives, the poor citizens of Oz believe him to be a real wizard capable of delivering them from evil. He goes along with the ruse because he wants the treasure that comes with being king.
From there, Disney tells a story that can stand proudly next to the original, and that delivers the thrills worthy of the term “blockbuster.” See this while it’s in theaters, on the biggest possible screen, and in 3D, if you enjoy it.
Rated PG for sequences of action and scary images. Three-and-a-half stars out of four.