The newest addition to the canon of the wonderful land of Oz is a Disney production of Oz the Great and Powerful, an origin-story/psuedo-prequel to the universally beloved 1939 Technicolor classic, directed by Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man).
The opening sequence dazzles, beginning á la The Wizard of Oz, in an anachronistic 1.33:1 aspect ratio, featured in glorious black and white, establishing the eponymous Oz (James Franco) as an unscrupulous, womanizing hack artist with dreams of fortune and glory, who, after seducing the wrong strongman’s girl, finds himself fleeing in a hot air balloon, directly into one of those infamous Kansan tornadic portals to the fairy tale land of witches, wizards and flying monkeys.
It’s once in Oz that the movie falters a bit, feeling slightly schizophrenic throughout for having to appeal to three generations of filmgoers, the older of which puts up with the dizzying 3-D, while the young ones yawn through all the allusions. Then there’s the Raimi fans eating up the spooky graveyard, puckish water faeries and off-kilter camera angles. The idea that “there’s something for everyone” proves to be too much here.
But through all this is the simple story of a man coming to terms with his desires and limitations. James Franco is well-suited for the role of Oz, a man whom everybody seems to think is skilled and talented but instead has all fooled. His smarmy Oz’s origins coincide with those of three witches of the realm: sisters Theodora and Evanora, and Glinda (Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams, respectively), all of whom see one thing or another in Oz and his prophesied arrival. But what could have been something deep and emotionally resonant instead devolves into a tired love triangle, providing for a somewhat unbelievable explanation as to the hows and whys of one witch’s becoming so wicked.
Despite the ownership by Warner Bros. of certain trademark elements in the original film (the ruby slippers and even the Wicked Witch’s wicked chin mole) Oz the Great and Powerful still manages to capture some of the magic of a world most of us have grown up with. But with the story’s shortcomings and overreaching technology, the tale of how Oz became the Wizard is both a marvel and a mess.
