Il grande e potente Oz

Oz the Great and Powerful tells the story of how the great wizard Oz from the Wizard of Oz came to be. It follows the young Oz (James Franco) as he is swept away to an enchanted land ending up in the middle of a power struggle between three witches. The young Oz is a trickster who deceives those he wants and/or needs for his own ends. This attitude has consequences and those consequences are what drives the story forward.

James Franco plays the young Oz brilliantly. The character is a shallow small time magician and the story shows how he comes full circle to be the Great and Powerful Oz from the Wizard of Oz. Unfortunately, his change happens after taking a grievous toll. The three witches who Oz comes to affect are Theodora (Mila Kunis), Rachel Weisz (Evanora), and Glinda (Michelle Williams). The three play their parts and give great performances to add to their resumes.

For those who watched and loved the Wizard of Oz in their childhood, this movie is the perfect prequel. Watching it as an adult was a treat. The writers did well to adapt the script to make it a worthy prequel. In addition, the movie does well to entertain both children and adults. It slots in perfectly as the precursor to the Wizard of Oz.

The film didn't have the best reception but I encourage you to ignore this. The directing is probably the weakest link in this movie, but the story and actors more than makeup for this. The character development is amazing and shows exactly why things were they way they are in the Wizard of Oz. Simply stated Oz the Great and Powerful is truly a prefect prequel.

In 1905, in Kansas, the small-time circus magician Oscar "Oz" Diggs (James Franco) is a weak, greedy, selfish and womanizer conman without character. He gives music box to the women that he seduces, and when a strong artist finds that his wife has a box in her belongings, he chases Oz through the circus. Oz flees in a balloon, but a tornado strikes his balloon and he lands on the Land of Oz.

Oscar meets the gorgeous Theodora (Mila Kunis) and she believes that he is the powerful magician from an ancient prophecy that will release her land from the Wicked Witch. Theodora tells that her sister and she are good witches, but the Wicked Witch had killed the king. Now the people are waiting for the magician to be their new king after defeating the witch. Theodora is seduced by Oz and brings him to the City of Emerald. When he sees the king's treasure, he decides to seek out the Wicked Witch and destroy her magic wand to get rid off her and become the king. Oz meets Glinda (Michelle Williams), who is supposed to be the Wicked witch, and soon he learns that Theodora's sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) is the evil one indeed.

Meanwhile Evanora lures he sister that is jealous and uses a spell to turn her into a wicked witch. Oscar learns that he is the only hope for the inhabitants of Oz that believe that he is a powerful magician and his only chance to defeat Evanora and Theodora is using illusion since he has no magic power.

"Oz the Great and Powerful" is an entertaining fantasy movie, with beautiful special effects and great cast. The beginning in black and white turns to bright colors when Oz reaches the magic kingdom and the images are wonderful. It takes too long for the unethical lead character to redeem and become a good man. For viewers that enjoy fantasy movies, "Oz the Great and Powerful" is a highly recommended movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Oz: Mágico e Poderoso" ("Oz: Magic and Powerful")

Beautiful yet vapid prequel to "The Wizard Of Oz" that is plague by not only by the numbers script but the questionable judgment of the people behind the scenes of the making of the film. The CGI effects are good and the characters created by those effects are cute but they are not strong enough to hide the films real problems. The script is so by the numbers that you can envision the twist and the ending five minutes into the film. Prequels are generally predicable because it set before the events of a prior movie but this film just did not have any originality to it and was just lazy in its set up. The script is not the only problem here; some of the casting is also off by a large margin as well. James Franco was not the first actor to be considered to play the character of Oscar Diggs but you can see a hundred better actors who could have done the role justice before you can ever think of Franco in the role and he does not disappoint in proving how miscast he is. Franco is terrible, so terrible that he is distracting to the film. He definitely does not care about his performance and it shows. Franco just swaggers in as if he is above the material and the actors around him while in reality, his performance is worse that the script of this film. Making his character so unlikable that you really do not want to watch or care about him. While Franco is in his own little world, Mila Kunis just looks lost in her performance. She is not believable as the wicked witch of the west and just comes across as lightweight compare to her sisters played by Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams who are both much better actors than this film deserved. Weisz in particular gives the film's best performance because she at least makes an effort with the lazy script she has to work with and just has fun with it. Her character is the typical Disney villain but in Weisz's capable hands, she becomes more and that does translate on screen. You as an audience member are swept off your feet by Weisz's enthusiasm for her role and the movie becomes better off because of it. Williams does the same, making her sweet tooth character a joy to watch as well and brings a real sincerity to the role which is a god sent because of how insincere Franco is in his.

It is a beautiful movie and the CGI does not give you a headache but other those things and the efforts of Weisz and Williams, The movie has too many strikes against it thanks to the script and the miscasting of Franco and Kunis.

Oz the Great and Powerful .. or maybe not so great, but still highly watchable.

Franco plays the little man behind the curtain, while Kunis, normally a favourite of mine, appears to be stuck in that tornado. Neither manage to defy gravity but the rest of the cast were pleasant, especially Weisz - even with her Emperor-like green force lightning.

It would have been a more visually stunning Oz had the effects been simplified. Conversely, the story lacked depth and with some rather clumsy dialogue (especially for Kunis), it was all perhaps a little too light and "Disney".

Doesn't quite get the ruby slipper, but maybe 3 out of 5 wands.

if You didn't Know that this Movie was Directed by Sam Raimi, You wouldn't Know that it was Directed by Sam Raimi. All of the Style is in the CGI. It has a Certain Eye Candy Appeal that also Lacks Warmth, Depth, and Anything Resembling a Soul.

But here it is. A Mega-Million Dollar Spewing of the Plasticized, Industrial Art that has become the Standard for This Type of Thing. The Other Worldliness of the Superhero and other Fantasies. It can Work Very Well in Limited Quantities but when that's All there is, that's All there is.

James Franco is a Movie Star (and some may question why) and Not an Actor, so He can by No Stretch of the Imagination Pull off the Charm Needed for the Wizard. He Grins and Smirks and All the Women On Screen, and in the Audience, are Supposed to be Charmed Out of Their Pants. Right.

The Prequel has its Moments of Appeal, but Hardly Awe Inspiring. The Witches are Interchangeable Bores. The Flying Monkey is OK and the China Doll is the Most Memorable. There are a lot of Explosions and Fireballs to Pump the Sub-Woofers and Danny Elfman's Recognizable Style is Noticeable from the First Few Notes (did someone say repetition).

Overall, the Movie can be Recommended in a Gaudy kind of Display with Enough Color to Capture the Eye, but the Movie is Not that Captivating. It is such a Mediocre Movie that Slightly Betrays the Source Material and is Another Expensive Extravaganza that is by Most Accounts Disappointing and Adequate at Best. That's not much for Disney and the Pile of Gold it put out for this Thing.