Oz The Great and Powerful

[baumer]

DISCUSS

[lab276]

It was decent if unspectacular. B

[Crusader]

Watch as Alice in Wonderland reviews get copy/pasted for this movie 

[Robertron]

The first hour, hour and a half were a bit slow, but the finale was amazing.Overall the 3D was stunning and used perfectly for this - an utterly breathtaking scene when it transforms from black and white to colour, and narrow to widescreen simultaneously. Also, another standout 3D scene is when the hot air balloon first crashes and is being shifted through the river/waterfall.The magic - OH THE MAGIC. Any scene where their powers were being used were crystal clear, and 3D really emphasized it. Whats probably my favourite shot (second to only the b&w to colour change) would have to be when the Wicked Witch shoots from the sky in the red flame ball - really awesome shot!As for the acting...Not really sold on Franco, Kunis was average, however Weisz was great and Williams perfect!Overall enjoyable movie, and although severely lacking anything special for the majority of the opening, the finale was strong enough to save it.7.5/10

[Robertron]

Also, subtle references to the original were a great touch. You're probably thinking how can anything be subtle given its a prequel and it has to be mentioned otherwise it wouldn't make sense...Blah blah blah..Watch it and you'll know what I mean.

[CJohn]

A huge disappointment. Mila bombed as the Wicked Witch. Fucking terrible. The final battle was boring and weak. It is totally a kids movie, and not the epic they have been selling on trailers/TV Spots.

 

This is Alice all over again.

 

12/20

Edited March 7, 2013 by CJohn

[Robertron]

A huge disappointment. Mila bombed as the Wicked Witch. Fucking terrible. The final battle was boring and weak. It is totally a kids movie, and not the epic they have been selling on trailers/TV Spots. This is Alice all over again. 12/20

I actually thought it was a bit too dark at times to be a kids movie :/

[DAR]

You rank films on a 20 pt scale?

[Goffe]

My first time in cinemark XD, Oz is about to begin.... OMG I‘m so excited

[Goffe]

wieeeerrrrrdddddd, a making-of from Oz before the movie

[JackO]

Oz the great and powerful is the story of Oz and how he came to be. In his adventure he meets 3 witches. 

 

I thought this film was very uneven. it was a very retro style. The character moments between Oz and the witches were heavy handed, played almost like a soap opera. I am surprised they made this into a kids movie as there was not a lot of magic or flash. it mad sense in the story since Oz was a con man but not so much with the marketing.

 

I expect the sequels to be bigger with much more magic as both the witches are pissed off.  Will probably be back and rewrite this after i take a nap.

 

B-  

[ChD]

I just got back from this movie, and I've got to I've enjoyed every minute of it, even though this movie had it's flaws..

The biggest flaw was no other than Mila Kunis. At the beginning, she was alright, but GOD OH GOD did she turn into a talentless green faced bitch with a laugh that made me want to punch her in the face. Her acting was horrible, and that fake crying (the first one, when the tears burn her) was the start of it.

 

The 3D and the world design were simply breathtaking. It had a little bit of comedy, which is always welcome, some action and some drama...

The thing I can't get over is the fact that their magic powers (the spells, shall I say?) looked so horrible compared to the other graphic related things (World, 3D). I don't know, they simply seemed very ugly to me, but still better than other movies *Rolleyes*

 

Anyways, in the end, I had tremendous fun.

 

8.5/10

 

MOOOOOOOOOOO

[Goffe]

Exactly what I expected it to be, the opposite of that atrocious mistake called Alice in Wonderland. 

 

Oz is a good adventure film with heart and a lead that registers in the charisma detector. "Epic battle" is not shoehorned in here and the actors' performances strike the just right kind of ham.

 

But all of that wouldn't work without Raimi's touch, which kinda is amazing considering the nature of the movie, a big Disney film rated PG. 

 

90/100

 

If possible, see it in 3D.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Goffe

[ddddeeee]

Pros.

One of the best main titles ever.

Franco nails it, despite some (necessary) hamming at the end.

Weisz is a goddess and hits the perfect level of camp.

Williams is spot-on and avoids being annoying and bland, which her type of character almost always is.

Raimi shots galore! Disney Army of Darkness comparisons are spot on.

Elfman nails it, his Wicked Witch theme is really, really catchy.

The entrance for the Wicked Witch of the West was genuinely epic.

China Girl is adorable.

Best 3D I've ever seen.

No shitty Mariah Song until well into the end credits, your ears will be spared.

 

Cons.

Kunis is acceptable as Theodora but not as Wicked Witch. She's clearly trying but her voice on that iconic image just doesn't sound right at all.

Uber Disney ending with the gifts made me want to barf.

Illusion Oz scene dragged.

Finley gets a few good laughs but is mostly irrelevant.

Lead Munchkin seemed to be in an entirely different era.

 

Overall I left the cinema very happy.

Edited March 8, 2013 by ddddeeee

[baumer]

A huge disappointment. Mila bombed as the Wicked Witch. Fucking terrible. The final battle was boring and weak. It is totally a kids movie, and not the epic they have been selling on trailers/TV Spots.

 

This is Alice all over again.

 

12/20

 

I echo almost everything you say here, even the grade.  I thought the final 20 minutes was good but the first 100 minutes was quite boring and really didn't feel very exciting.  Mila really was horrible as the witch.  This is like Alice all over again.

 

6/10

[Gopher]

There is good and bad.

 

The good: it's plenty better than Alice in Wonderland, if only because it looks like Raimi is having fun. His fingerprints are all over this movie, from camera angles to visuals ugly prosthetics (Rachel Weitz at the end of the movie looks like something right out of Army of Darkness). The third act goes off the rails and it's easily the most lively section of the film. He PLAYS with 3D, which nobody ever does these days. Stuff keeps flying out of the screen and it's genuinely enjoyable to watch. If you see this in theaters then by all means pay extra for a 3D ticket. You won't regret it. 

 

Now the bad: this movie is indeed all over the place. The screenplay is deathly dull, and Franco is distractingly bad. It's like he's laughing and grinning the whole time because he can't believe he's acting in front of a greenscreen. So much of the film feels produced- the wisecracking monkey (which was actually a decision Alan Horn made himself) is just the most obvious example- that I was never really surprised, never cared about Oz or any of the other one-dimensional characters. 

 

In short, it's a film brimming with interesting Sam Raimi ideas that are trapped inside a Disney theme park ride. 

 

EDIT: Screw it, it's a C+ 

Edited March 9, 2013 by Gopher

[fishstick]

I agree with pros and cons but I also want my money back. 3D was the best ever but the script and dialog were beyond awful.

 

I was susprised how much I liked Williams. I expected her to be the weak link and yet she was the strong one and had good chemistry with Franco. I have to add to the chorus that Kunis was the weak link and for me the movie goes from uneven to trainwreck once she transforms into WW.

 

The character of Theodora is just ridiculous starting with her tight leather pants. I hated costumes in this thing and those pants followed by sweetheart prom dress grated on my nerves. I havn`t seen such ridic and unsuitable costumes since Sy Fy`s Children of Dune. Anyway, Theodora spends minscule amount of time with Oz so we are never clear whether she gets bitchy because she fell in love or because she wanted to be the Queen. Either way, her transformation after biting an apple was ridic and that`s where the movie starts going down the toilet. WW is completely inefficient, unscary villain. She just flies around, spouts some threats that never have any effect and laughs OTT. It doesn`t help that the movie is Hobbit`s twin sister in that there`s absolutely no danger for anyone so whatever happens you just shrug it off cause obviously nothing serious will happen. Worse, since good people of Oz are forbidden to kill you know even bad guys won`t bite it although big deal was made about the need to kill WW. Therefore, nothing really happens plotwise. You know who the bad guys are almost from the start, and they just fly away and you are even told they`ll come back. So, yeah, big pile of nothing.

 

The witch sisters had no chemistry and I just couldn`t buy them as sisters. Also, Rachel`s features are so much more suitable for WW than Mila`s moon face.

 

Most of the time, people were just standing around against some pretty background instead of using the environment to forward the story. Or they would walk through, fly through without interaction with the environment. Learn from Avatar, copycats.

 

Like SWATH, this had some creatures that serve the purpose of eye candy without any meaning. The water fairies were like SWATH pixies. Oh, look, cool SFX that adds nothing to the story. Same goes for what-was-that-cannibal-plants in Pandora at Night, er, Dark Forest. Again, SFX for the sake of SFX. You don`t have that in Avatar where everything has a purpose. I liked SWATH better.

 

Like Hobbit, this didn`t really click. It had some moments (all of them involving China Girl who was wonderful) but the whole was bland and absolutely nothing popped out. Nothing really happened plotwise although lots of running and explaining took place and it tried to make decidedly unepic story epic. But in the end, it was really going from point A to point A 1/2. I liked the Hobbit better. 

 

This showed us what Sith vs Gandalf fight would look like. Sith would fire lightnings from his/her hands and Gnadlaf would fire white light from his/her staff/wand and they`d levitate. Not as cool as geeks who play Character vs Character games imagined. I LOL`d. It was really stupid and derivative of SW and LOTR. Palpanora and Ganda. Like, seriously?

 

Acting was Senor Blanchitto School of Stagey that really took me out of the movie. It worked while Oz was on the stage in prologue but than it continued and everyone was acting in that style which was very annoying to me. I`d say that CGI characters, China and Finley, outacted the actors.

 

Shoshanna Dreyfuss`s Revenge of the Giant Face was much better shout to Wizard of Oz than Oz`s Giant Face. I kept thinking how great tarantino`s use of the same device was and how crappy it worked here especially with WW screeching and ptetty much coming off frustrated as opposed to evil. Her sister did all the heavy lifting anyway so she was really a marketing bait rather than real villain.

 

Trailers and spots made this look so much better.

Edited March 9, 2013 by fishnets

[dashrendar44]

So RT reviews were totally right about this...Bummer.

Edited March 9, 2013 by dashrendar44

[CJohn]

Trailers and spots made this look so much better.

Don't talk about the Tv Spots and trailers. They made it look like an epic fantasy blockbuster. Instead, it was a boring kids movie with a terrible villain. Story was rushed. Especially Mila turning into the WW. I mean... c'mon? Really? She fell in love for him in 5 minutes. Michelle was really beautiful and sweet but she does nothing. Tbh, my favorite was actually Rachel.

Edited March 9, 2013 by CJohn

[jstevan]

Don't talk about the Tv Spots and trailers. They made it look like an epic fantasy blockbuster. Instead, it was a boring kids movie with a terrible villain. Story was rushed. Especially Mila turning into the WW. I mean... c'mon? Really? She fell in love for him in 5 minutes. Michelle was really beautiful and sweet but she does nothing. Tbh, my favorite was actually Rachel.

well she told Oz that no one gave her anything and she never was asked to dance and when he asked "how come pretty girl like you don't have someone?" she replied "you don't know much about witches"...so you can tell that she doesn't have love in her life and it's not strange that she fell so quickly for Oz's charm...