Review of Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) by Joe P — 01 Dec 2013

Maybe it should have been called "Oz: the Not So Great and Rarely Powerful." I can't say I didn't have high hopes for this movie and I also can't say I that I didn't hear all about the poor reviews. The movie isn't good and that's disappointed because I do love The Wizard of Oz, and the thought of going back to Oz was very exciting. The characters were fine, even though I didn't particularly enjoy James Franco's performance. He seems to be hit and miss with me and I just found him too cartoony in this movie. I know it's a kids movie but even for that I thought he was over the top with it.

I did hear that they weren't able to get rights to several things from The Wizard of Oz, and had to make some slight modifications and changes. Regardless, I do realize this is a Disney film and I'm not their target audience. The film is aimed at kids obviously and I can only hope it stirred up interest in one of the greatest family films ever in The Wizard of Oz. The ending was enjoyable and it probably saved this movie a whole letter grade for me. I did see they all signed on for a sequel, so this isn't the last time we will be visiting Oz.