Why I Saw It: Guaranteed blockbuster, superb cast, excellent pick for director. Is there a reason for me not to see this?
Cast: As I already mentioned, I love this cast. James Franco isn't completely right for the role of Oz, but I think he is the best available actor for the role, if that makes any sense. He looks like he is trying, which always seems to be the concern since his Oscar hosting gig. Mila Kunis does everything she can with her role as Theodora, but is a little limited because of the camp demanded by the original movie. Specifically, when she turns into the Wicked Witch we know, it is a little forced. Rachel Weisz doesn't have to do a lot in this, and she doesn't, which is a good thing, because it isn't supposed to be a flashy role. Michelle Williams, well, she is flawless. I challenge you to find issue with her as Glenda (Hint: If you find one, I don't want to know). Zach Braff is in there too forces me to wonder why this guy doesn't do more voice acting.
Plot: It's the origin story of the original movie, so it is definitely being watched for the how, not the what happens. I'll say, there are a couple places where they had to reverse engineer the story and it worked better in some places than in others. How the wizard became the man we see in the original movie is quite clever. On the other hand, Theodora's transformation was not as comfortable. Overall, I thought the story was pretty clever and way more worked with the origins story than didn't.
Elephant in the Room: How does Sam Rami do? Personally, I think Sam Rami is an excellent choice to direct a movie like this. From The Evil Dead to Spider-Man, he's made his career on infusing camp into stories while still taking them seriously. For something like Oz, that is perfect.
To Sum Things Up:
This movie was exactly what I expected: fun. It's light-hearted family fare, but not exclusively so. It follows a pretty standard big-budget movie formula, but it's one that works. I somewhat regret not seeing this in 3-D because it probably would've looked pretty good. Even in 2-D it it is a colorful, beautiful movie. The only good reason not to see this that I can find is "I don't want to pay $10 dollars on a ticket". Anything else and you are trying to hard to not like things.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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