Oz The Great and Powerful (2013) [Movie Review]

Oz The Great and Powerful is the magical prequel to The Wizard of Oz. In this film, James Franco takes the lead as Oz, the great and powerful magician. Or, at least he tries to get people to believe that. Truly, he is simply a con-artist, which gets him in trouble, and is how he makes it to Oz in the first place. We also get some insight as to what happened in Oz, and how it got to be the way it was in our previous film (which, by the way, was over 70 years ago).

First off, casting was great for the witch of the South and East, but our Wicked Witch of the West? Could have been much better. It doesn't matter how much CGI and make-up you put on Mila Kunis, she will always be pretty. Her performance was great, but her appearance just wasn't wicked enough for me. I also would have liked to see more people overlap in worlds. The only ones that overlapped were Oz (of course), Zach Braff's character (both were servants, of sorts), Joey King's character (who played a girl who couldn't walk in the "real" world, and a girl made of fine china in Oz), and finally Michelle Williams (who played a love interest of Oz's and a witch in the world of Oz). Other than those four, no one overlaps. Kind of a disappointment, but not a huge deal.

Technology sure has changed since our last visit to Oz, that's for damn sure. We get a more realistic-looking world, though it didn't look 100% real, I can let it slide. It is amazing to see how far we've come though, I'm eager to see what technology can do in just a couple decades.

Anyway, this film was fantastic. If nothing else, you get the nostalgia of seeing the land of Oz again. If you enjoyed the original Wizard of Oz, then I highly recommend you check this one out. If you didn't like the original Wizard of Oz... I don't think there is anything I can do for you. And if, somehow, you haven't seen The Wizard of Oz, well, I'm just going to have say you're lying.

Rating: 8/10

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Discussion topic: Would you ever pretend to be someone/something you're not for a personal gain?