When I was a kid, in the days before movie rentals and the internet, you got one chance a year to see The Wizard Of Oz, and if you had any sense at all, you took it. Year after year, I kept watching the film, figuring that when I stopped enjoying it, I would officially have become a grown up. By that measure, I still haven’t, despite possessing crippling credit card debt, which is usually what separates the men from the boys.
When I was a kid, in the days before movie rentals and the internet, you got one chance a year to see The Wizard Of Oz, and if you had any sense at all, you took it. Year after year, I kept watching the film, figuring that when I stopped enjoying it, I would officially have become a grown up. By that measure, I still haven’t, despite possessing crippling credit card debt, which is usually what separates the men from the boys.
Oz, the Great and Powerful was worth a 74-year wait. It’s one of the best movies in recent memory, and if that isn’t enough, I wound up sitting next to legendary movie reviewer Rex Reed during the press screening. Ya gotta love New York!
The 3-D effects are great throughout the film, but they’re never better than during the opening credits, and they practically propel you into Oz.
As in the original, the beginning of the film is in black and white, and becomes color after a twister takes plain old Oscar Diggs toward his destiny; to transform from a sideshow magician into The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. “Oz” is the kind of show person who gives show people a bad name. He’s a conman, a liar, and a cheat whose shortcomings land him in a broken down carnival in the company of gin swilling clowns (is there any other kind?) and homicidally jealous strong men. While escaping his well-deserved fate in a hot air balloon, Oz’s airship is pulled into a tornado that places it in danger of being punctured by sharp objects, flying cows, or Helen Hunt.
He lands in Oz, where it has been prophesized that a wizard would deliver the land from evil, and apparently to teach us all that; “maybe you’re capable of more than you know.”
Like any addict who “does a geographic,” Oz falls right into his old patterns, and attempts to seduce all three of the female leads. Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, and Mila Kunis are all wonderful as the witches. At first, Kunis seems miscast in the role of the sweet witch that she plays at the beginning of the film. Then, a broken heart, and the attendant burning tears, turn her evil, water being deadly to witches. Now that we know witches own bodily fluids are life-threatening, expect Secret Anti-Perspirant For Sorceresses to hit the market. “Strong enough for a wizard, but made for a witch!”
Once Kunis becomes The Wicked Witch we all know and loathe, she turns in her best performance yet, screaming, “No mercy!” and throwing fireballs. Forget chewing the scenery–she sets fire to it! And it’s fun to watch. Once again, Sam Raimi was right, and I was wrong. Rachel Weisz as her evil sister, Evanora, enlists her aid to kill Glinda The Good, played by Michelle Williams. Glinda’s an altogether different kind of wicked witch. Wicked gorgeous!
She helps Oz find himself, and he finds himself up to the task of saving the people of Oz. He’s ably assisted by a flying monkey, a china doll (one of the cutest Disney Characters since the golden age of Disney) and “tinkers” who transform his parlor tricks into the special effects he’ll forever be known for.
Like Skyfall, Oz revisits the familiar elements of the original and in some cases, explains their origins along the way. Glinda’s flying bubbles and magic wand, and the flying monkeys are all rebooted, with terriflying baboons replacing Margaret Hamilton’s less formidable primate patsies.
The battle for The Emerald City really puts you through the paces, and I found myself laughing out loud and wanting to cheer when Oz, the Great and Powerful gained the upper hand, (but I didn’t want Rex Reed to think I’m a rube). When it came time for The Wizard to give gifts, this jaded nightclub comic turned movie reviewer started to tear up, which may be the best compliment I can offer.
So go see Oz, the Great and Powerful, and forget your credit card debt for 130 minutes.
Lord Carrett