Saturday, March 09, 2013
Oz the Great and Powerful (PG)
THE WIZARD of Oz, in print and on celluloid as well as the
titular character himself, is for the most part an untouchable being. The story
where the master plays second fiddle to one particular Dorothy has not been
attempted again in an age of remakes and retellings. Instead, the wizard and
other characters surrounding his kingdom have come into favour to keep the tale
alive.
It’s hard to say what this homage to L Frank Baum’s
creations is exactly; it presents itself as a re-imagining of the central
characters and events, and reinterpretation where the great man is at the
centre of the story - all wrapped up in what is seemingly a prequel to
Dorothy’s tale. What Sam Raimi and screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David
Lindsay-Abaire show is that there’s a lot to be toyed with.
Raimi is no stranger to the effect of reworking stories and
characters, falling victim to Hollywood’s impatience as his Spider-Man reign came to an end. Here,
he’s the one setting the rules, among other things allowing liberties with
character names so as not to confuse them with those from Oz interpretations
like Wicked.
His choice to include a star from his work on Spider-Man as his protagonist is not
surprising either; Raimi and James Franco work well as a team. On screen,
Franco runs the show as Oz, a ruthless conman unable to move past performing a
magician in a travelling circus with sidekick Frank (Zach Braff).
The most convenient way to get to Oz is by tornado, as we
find the magician to be a predecessor to events The Wizard of Oz fans know. Raimi has no qualms about acknowledging
that film, imitating its black and white opening before stumbling upon a wonderful land in Technicolor. The
saturation of colour placed on today’s screens still results in eye-popping
beauty.
To Oz, the women he stumbles upon in this foreign land are
all beautiful. Luckily for him, women tend to fall for his charm. Theodora
(Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams) all have
their moments, but they come to be the more influential as Oz’s table turns.
When Oz is asked to save the land and its people, he
naturally freaks out; the moral story about finding the goodness in one’s heart
and focusing on becoming a good person before greatness follows. It’s an
obvious touch, but one integral to the characters many have grown to know and
accessible to a wide audience.
As The Wizard of Oz fans
will appreciate, the story has a dark side - while much of the classic film
focuses on the Wicked Witch, here it concerns the underlying element of how Oz
came to be great and powerful. The suggestion big white lies are OK for the
greater good may not sit well with some of the key audience.
It’s
an entertaining story where Franco particularly gets to have a lot of fun. His
wizard is an eccentric one, but not as intentionally as he might think. Oz is
one lucky conman to land the gig that he did. For something untouchable, this
re-whatever-it's-meant-to-be has built a solid framework for any future
spin-offs should people demand more content as they once did with the original
story’s creator.
Rating: 4/5
*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 2/3/2013.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS? See what I thought of Side Effects and The Deer Hunter.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS? See what I thought of Side Effects and The Deer Hunter.
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