I don’t know why Entertainment Weekly gave this movie a C grade. This is by far the best movie I’ve seen in a long while.
In Ox, The Great and Powerful, director Sam Raimi and actor James Franco, both of Spider-Man fame, bring to us a magnificent world full of texture, color, and superb actors following a wonderful–and sometimes tragic–plotline written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Mitchell Kapner. At the beginning of the movie, we see Franco as Oscar Diggs–or “Oz” as he prefers to be called–as a carnival magician who is extremely selfish and often confronted by the limits and strains life has put on him. However, when he ends up in a hot air balloon in the middle of a tornado (sound familiar, anyone?), he prays to God and says he can change. Whether or not God has anything to do with it, Oz does change, in fits and starts, towards being a better man, one that we find ourselves rooting for in the end.
As the film progresses, we also see an evolution in one of the witches (I won’t say who, it’ll be a surprise), who turns from a plucky, lovestruck girl into a familiar green beast. Also, be prepared for plenty of surprises and reminders (such as the Wicked Witch does have a sister–that part always escapes my memory), and don’t expect to guess the plot except for stuff that will lead to (obviously) the sequel (you know what that stuff is without me telling you, and if you don’t read the original Oz books). There was only one part of the movie that I could guess what was going to happen, and only near when it happened, so be prepared to be wowed.
The only thing I had qualms against in this movie was that in the back there was a family who didn’t use their movie theater voices. Only when I went “Shush!” did they realize that they were being loud. Honestly, does anyone follow movie theatre ettiquette anymore? Please comment if you turn off your cell phones before a movie, just to reassure me.
There’s no one actor who was by far the best actor, each was convincing and endearing to me, though the Little China Girl, voiced by Joey King, definitely showed a lot of depth and personality and sincerely touched my heart. And Michele Williams as Glinda was everything I expected of the character and then some. Franco definitely made the con artist wizard more than annoying, as some critics have alleged, and Mila Kunis broke my heart as much as hers broke too (watch the movie, you’ll understand).
And the SFX! Wowee, they were something. The scenery is so amazingly real for CGI, and the flying baboons will make you want to flinch in terror! Plus the special effects on the witches and their magics are excellent examples of movie magic. Plus the Little China Girl is so cute! I want to pick her up and take her home with me!
For all that up there, I give Oz, The Great and Powerful a 4.5 out 5. This will definitely be a film to remember, just like the movie and book that this film is a somewhat-loose prequel to. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Rami Ungar The Writer 