Reviews: Oz the Great and Powerful

            If you must do a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, the Wizard himself is the obvious starting point. How did he get to Oz? How did he manage to convince the people of Oz that he was indeed their wizard? How do the witches of Oz figure in, if at all? Most importantly, is he actually, as he claims to be, a "very good man, just a very bad wizard?"

            Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful is an uneven, but fairly satisfying attempt to answer these questions. It gets a lot right, though it also fumbles a number of crucial elements rather badly.

            In turn-of-the-century Kansas, small-time magician/inventor Oscar Diggs (James Franco) performs in a travelling carnival, styling himself as “The Great and Power Oz.” He’s, to put it nicely, a shallow, opportunistic jerk. He casually flirts with/seduces his assistants (whom it’s implied he basically just picks up off the street), is callously unfeeling towards his long-suffering partner, Frank (Zach Braff), whom he explicitly tells “we are not friends,” and grumbles about how his talents are wasted in a cheap outfit like this. The only person he isn’t a jerk towards is Annie (Michelle Williams): a sweet Kansas girl whom he honestly cares about…enough that when she tells him another man proposed to her, he recommends she accept.

            Then, following an unfortunate collection of events involving the circus strongman, a hot air balloon, and a tornado, Oz unexpectedly finds himself in a strange, dream-like land which shares his name. Not only that, but he’s informed by the beautiful witch Theodora (Mila Kunis) that she and her sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz) intend to make him the king of Oz…at least, as soon as he slays the wicked witch.

            You see, Oz refrained from informing Theodora that he’s not actually a wizard, and a few slight-of-hand tricks manages to convince her. Evanora, however, is less impressed and hatches the idea to ‘test’ him by sending him to slay the wicked witch, Glinda (also played by Michelle Williams), who murdered the old king and now holds the whole of Oz in her terror.

            Along the way, he picks up a couple friends: there’s Finley, the flying monkey (voiced by Zach Braff), who becomes his assistant and confidant. Later they’re joined by the small, fragile China Girl (Joey King in the film’s best performance). And, unless you have absolutely no knowledge of the original film or American culture in general, you can probably guess that he finds Glinda to be not so wicked after all.

            The film’s greatest strength is its visuals, which are breathtaking. Raimi imitates the original by having the opening act in Kansas filmed in sephia tone, before switching to color for the Oz scenes, making our first glimpse of Ozian flora and fauna all the more incredible. There’s a wonderfully dream-like quality to the imagery that fits well with the word of Oz; huge flowers ring like bells, flocks of hummingbirds in the shape of fish dive in and out of the water, emerald-flowers open up to reveal ruby petals. Moreover, Raimi doesn’t simply deploy all his visual artistry upfront, but throws ever more unique and arresting sights at us throughout the film.

            As a filmmaker, Raimi excels at imaginative conceits and unexpected images, which makes him a excellent choice for the world of Oz. He also has a very sly sense of humor which is evident throughout, such as the scene where one character asks another in all sincerity “So just because she jumped off a cliff that means you will too?!” Or an impromptu planning session that might have come straight from Army of Darkness.

Raimi and his fellow writers do a pretty good job of meshing their film with the one everyone remembers and loves. The Emerald City and Yellow Brick Road especially are just as we remember them (except we get to see more of them). Glinda’s bubble gets a well-conceived CGI update, as does the Wicked Witch of the West’s fiery entrance and smoking broomstick, and the Flying Monkeys return in a spectacular and nightmarish fashion. Then there are a bunch of unspoken little nods to the original; my favorite of which is an unacknowledged cameo by, of all things, the horse of a different color. Dorothy herself, meanwhile, receives a subtle and emotionally resonant allusion in a touching early scene.

            One of the nice things about these references is that for the most part they actually revolve less around repeating scenarios or lines of dialogue and more around trying to capture tones or expanding on specific elements. For instance, the scene where the heroes venture into the “dark forest” is clearly a nod to the “I do believe in spooks” bit in the original, but none of the characters ever actually says the line, or any other one of the classic lines. Instead, they go about it more subtly by trying to recapture the type of humor used in the original scenes (“Ah! Something’s got my tail!””). Contrast this with the clumsy, forced repetitions in, say, the Star Wars prequels. 

As for laying the foundations of the classic story, the results are more mixed. Oz’s character arch is fine, if somewhat unoriginal and predictable. In particular, the manner in which he becomes the smoke-and-flame wizard that Dorothy and her friends meet is done almost perfectly, making for a spectacular climactic declaration of himself as “The Wizard of Oz!”

On the other end of the spectrum, the sequence of events that leads to Theodora becoming the Wicked Witch of the West is a disappointment. That it’s much better than the scenario envisioned in Wicked goes without saying, but it still feels cheap and shallow. Part of the problem is that Mila Kunis simply doesn’t have anything like the gravitas of Margaret Hamilton, especially in her early scenes, where she comes across as nothing more than a naïve teenager. She’s a little better once she becomes the wicked witch, but she never comes close to the iconic figure Hamilton created in the original. Remember how you spent all of the Star Wars prequels thinking “this tool became Darth Vader?” It’s a little like that. 

There are, however, a number of interesting and fairly exciting ‘seeds’ planted throughout the story. That is, small details that foreshadow or point to events in the original. The best of these is the way the film wordlessly establishes just what the Ruby Slippers did and why the Witch of the West was so keen on getting them (though the slippers themselves don’t appear in the film).  

            James Franco does his best as Oz, but honestly I think he was miscast. Franco is one of those actors who is almost incapable of seeming like he’s from anything but his own time, and his Oz never acts or talks like someone from the 1900s (actually, the overly modern dialogue is a problem throughout. It’s less of a problem in Oz, which is a fantasy world, but it’s jarring in the Kansas sequence and whenever Franco opens his mouth). Also, he’s never as charismatic or charming as he needs to be until the very end, meaning the fact that he’s able to smooth-talk Theodora into believing him comes off more as an indictment of her intelligence than an example of his showmanship. Once you get passed that, however, he does a fair job as the swindler who isn’t quite as bad as he thinks himself. His best moments are when he finds himself actually being a good guy, where he manages to project some real emotion. His scenes with the China Girl are the best, but he also has a great early moment when, during his Kansas magic show, a wheelchair-bound girl begs him to use his magic to heal her.

            Michelle Williams isn’t the regal figure I remember from the original, but that can be excused by the fact that she’s a much younger version of the character. I like the fact that she’s allowed to be honestly sweet and good, rather than being turned into a snarking tough-girl or something. She and Franco have some chemistry, though their relationship doesn’t really jell as much as it probably should. There’s not a whole lot of reason for Glinda to trust Oz, except that he’s there and he’s “the only wizard they have.” While the actual sentiment is rather nicely done, it doesn’t make Glinda look as wise or in control as she probably should. She does, however, get to show a stronger side of her character in a climactic duel (which almost makes up for her playing damsel in distress not long before. Almost).

            Rachel Weisz actually gives one of the film’s standout performances as Evanora, the future Wicked Witch of the East. With the Witch of the West still a work in progress, she serves as the chief villain of the picture (though there are hints that the Witch of the West is both stronger and wickeder than she is). It’s fitting that the Witch of the East gets her due, and she makes for a formidable villain. Weisz plays her wickedness with great gusto and seems to be having the most fun of pretty much anyone in the cast.

            I already talked about Mila Kunis, but I would like to reiterate that she does improve upon becoming the Wicked Witch. While nowhere near Margaret Hamilton’s level, she at least manages to project an insane cruelty that contrasts nicely with Weisz’s more restrained, manipulative evil.

            The best character and performance in the movie comes courtesy of Joey King as the China Girl. She’s both sweetly tragic and honestly adorable, and it isn’t long before she has Oz wrapped around her little china finger. Most of the heart that is in the film comes courtesy of her, and she’s the key figure that makes Oz’s transformation believable. Plus, she gets some of the best lines in the movie (“now bring forth the covers” she commands as Oz tucks her in during a particularly sweet scene). The circumstances the lead to her joining forces with Oz, meanwhile, are an almost textbook way of establishing how evil the Wicked Witch of the East is without making the movie too grim or frightening for children.

            Zach Braff also contributes a lot of heart (and humor) as Finley, who ends up being Oz’s (semi-reluctant) sidekick. Their relationship’s growth into genuine friendship is another major part of the reason why the story arch works as well as it does. Moreover, Finley gets any number of great lines, especially in his reaction to being told that Oz isn’t actually a wizard…and his subsequent attempt to pretend otherwise.

            Outside of these characters, there is also Bill Cobbs as the “Master Tinker,” who doesn’t really stand out as a character, but provides some much needed support at a crucial juncture, and Tony Cox as the Munchkin Knuck, who frankly feels much too much like just Tony Cox wandering around Oz. Fortunately, he doesn’t have too much screen time (and it must be said, he becomes less obnoxious as the film approaches its climax). And of course, Bruce Campbell has his inevitable cameo, unrecognizable in Winky get-up. Fittingly for a Sam Raimi film, he gets gratuitously smacked around throughout his scene.

            Obviously, we all have some idea of how the story’s going to end up. Raimi, typically, throws us some nifty curveballs along the way. For instance, at one point, one famous element of the wizard’s persona seems to be set into place, but then the film suddenly veers in another direction. Also, the precise sequence of events that leads to Oz ending up in that balloon and being swept into that twister are both clever and a nice foreshadowing of future events.

            Regarding that balloon ride, Raimi’s most interesting and exciting conceit might be the fact that the trip to Oz is explicitly the result of a desperate prayer. This, combined with later comments about how the wizard was clearly meant to end up in Oz lends the adventure a surprising sense of Grace and divine providence. Both Oz the man and Oz the land are set on the path to redemption at the same moment and find it at the same time, and there’s a definite sense that some benevolent force is behind these events.

            Actually, Raimi manages a couple of fairly well-conceived Biblical references throughout, including a Garden of Eden shout-out during the Witch of the West’s transformation, and even a kind of “death and resurrection” arch for its hero. It’s not much, but I appreciated it all the same. He also includes a nifty shout-out to Thomas Edison, Oz’s hero and inspiration, which is kind of wonderful in its paean to invention and creativity. 

            Other themes are much less interesting; consisting mostly of generic nonsense about ‘belief’ and “if you believe, anything is possible.” There is also, however, a nice counterpointing of goodness and greatness which doesn’t come in much, but pays off nicely.

            I’m also impressed that the movie managed to be an epic adventure fantasy with a big climactic battle...in which no one gets killed. Glinda explicitly says that the Ozmites won’t kill, even in battle, and the movie, surprisingly enough, honors that. Of course, it would have been horrifying to feature a blood-soaked climax to an Oz movie, and this forces both the characters and the filmmakers to be rather more elegant about the whole thing (it’s also kind of amusing to have a Sam Raimi movie which specifically declares itself blood-free).

            I’ve already mentioned most of the film’s flaws: miscasting, jarringly modern dialogue, and a limp backstory for the Wicked Witch of the West. There's also a few plot holes, including a bizarre moment where Oz packs up to leave, and no one (including him) seems bothered by the question of where exactly he intends to go.

              On the whole, though, Oz the Great and Powerful is an inventive, delightful, and thrilling adventure story. It manages to both honor one of the great films of cinema and have a quirky character all to its own. As a fan of the original, I found this a mostly-satisfying and take on the untold story of the Wizard, and the wit, heart, and creativity throughout make it a worthwhile experience.  

Final Rating: 3.5/5. Despite miscasting and some ill-conceived writing, the striking visuals, sweet characters, and nostalgic references make it well worth seeing.