In Review: "Oz The Great and Powerful"

BEWARE!! FLYING MONKEYS (AKA SPOILERS) AHAEAD!

ENTER OZ AT YOUR OWN RISK

OZ The Great and Powerful

Disney had a challenge ahead of them. They needed to follow the yellow brick road, meet some friends along the way (as well as some enemies), and retrieve the witch's brow to meet the Wizard. Don't offend those Munchkins (Wizard of Oz fans) or those Wicked Witch lovers ("Wicked" the musical lovers). These two groups, the old and the young, have huge amounts of time and energy spent into this one story. So how do you please every witch, scarecrow, tin man, and lion?

Answer: You don't! You ignore them all and start from scratch.

That is the hardest part about watching this movie. Separate all you know from this single medium of Oziness.

The Yellow Brick Road

My favorite part of watching this movie was the world that Disney created for the audience of every age. This world had a little bit of Wonderland (giant flowers that move on their own), Hogwarts (pixie-like water fairies), and some Middle Earth (short men). Dark Forests of eyeballs that had eat you with sharp pointy teeth. Lions that aren't afraid of their own shadow.

This Oz used the original literature as a basis for introducing new characters like China Girl (literally a girl made of china in a land made of china cups and saucers) and a friendly flying monkey in a bellhop suit (we really don't know where he came from or why he is in a bellhop uniform, but he's cure :) ). Our favorites of the original film still patrol the land- the Winkie guards of the Wicked Witch, the Munchkins of Muchkinland, the friendly folk of the Emerald City decked in green, and of course, the scary flying monkeys that will snatch you away.

Which Witch is Which?

Glinda the Good- We can't all come and go by bubble, but Glinda manages to! Glinda properly matches up with Annie Gale (yes, that's Dorothy's mama). Oz falls for both girls, but can only have the OZ one because the Kansas one is getting married to Mr. Gale. It would have been interesting to have them explore that a little. We don't really know if Glinda and Oz get together and have a magic kid- maybe it's Ozma! Michelle Williams plays the bubbly good girl sweetly and with great strength which in my opinion is what the original was missing. She is wise and sees the greatness in everyone. Oz is a jerk. I'm not 100% sure if I even like him in the end. James Franco was perfect for the part though. His sly and slimy character did not look hard for him. In every part I have seen him in, it is the real emotions he struggles with. Crying without over doing it and looking cheesy. The constant trickster is covering up from his real feelings.

But this leading ladies are the ones to carry the show. Mila Kunis makes the seamless transition from the naive Theodora the Good to The Wicked Witch. Her longing to cease her broken heart overcomes her need to be good. Evanora, Theodora's sister, giver her a green apple and the transformation begins! The face is a little too much for me- too animated, too big of a chin, too much arch in the eyebrows- yet not scary enough. I'm not sure what they were going for. You lose her humanity in the cartoony face, and you are not scared away. Now Evanora's witch face- that is scary. Evanora loses her powers and she transforms into the classic old hag witch complete with warts and long, dirty fingernails. Evanora is my favorite witch of them all for sure. Her green Emerald City costume is exquisite classic Hollywood styled. She was devious enough to be wickedly awesome.

If I Only had a Brain

In order to please all ages, you need to play for the kids, and that means... COMEDY! Scrubs' Zach Braff plays Finley the adorable flying monkey (and Oz's real world magician's assistant) you just want to cuddle. Finley's sweet and wise-cracking nature is endearing and lovable. China Girl played by Joey King is a lot tougher then she looks. She also plays a little girl who asks Oz to make her walk out of her wheelchair. She is ready to fight to save Oz. Her gentle heart makes her strong and wise.

We're Off to See the Wizard!

Overall, Oz The Great and Powerful is worth the watch no mater your age or Ozian history. Just remember to leave the ruby slippers at home. This is no place like the Kansas you know. I do recommend seeing it in 3D. The opening credits is a pop-up book theme, and it is way cooler when the pop-up book actually POPS. The negatives include plot holes (Who does Evanora become? Where do the slippers come in? Where are our fav characters?) and Franco's fair performance.

3 Out of 4 Ruby Slippers