Review of Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) by Turner E — 13 Nov 2013

Sam Raimi has returned and unfortunatly the creativty that he brought to The Evil Dead and the first two Spiderman films is almost non-existent here. I've been a fan of his films for a while, but the prequel to the original classic not only feels second rate by comparison, but even by it cannont even stand alone as its own indepdent film.

The plot follows OZ (James Franco), a young con man who gets swept away to a magical world. While there he meets a witch (Mila Kunis) and her sister who claims that he is the chosen one who will defet their evil sister a become the rightful king. Seeing an oppurtunity to make it rich, he forms a team of colorful characters to save the world.

One of the biggest problems with the film is the casting. I'm a big fan of Franco and Kunis, but by god are they mistcast. The role of Oz was meant for Robert Downey Jr. or Hugh Laurie who are masters of witty dialog and improve. Franco isn't terrible but he seems too laid back and unintelligent to be a believable con man. As for Kunis, she seems to have left all her personality at the door and could never believable play a heartbroken girl or a woman scorned. She just comes off as underdevloped.

There is some creativty and interesting ideas, like the china doll girl, but for the most part its an underwelming story with very little to recommend.

Final Grade: C-.