Review of Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) by Midlands M — 19 Oct 2013

James Franco plays Oscar "Oz" Diggs in this fantasy adventure prequel to the 1939 classic by Spiderman and Evil Dead director Sam Raimi who after cutting his chops on the CGI action of the webbed-wonder tells us the story of how this conning stage magician from a travelling circus is whisked in a tornado (of course) to the wonderful land of Oz.

The population believe him to be the prophesized Wizard they've been waiting for and although he has doubts, he comes across Theodora (Mila Kunis) and her sibling Evanora (Rachel Weisz) who as the Wicked Witch of the East manipulates both Oz and her sister to her own ends.

Michelle Williams rounds the cast as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South who tries to convince Franco's protagonist of his true destiny amongst the people of the land. With no musical numbers (a big plus for me but probably not for Oz purists), Franco centres the family-friendly journey with a great performance against the nods to the earlier film whilst establishing its own universe.

It's credit to Raimi who has created a much more believable and interesting world than Burton's similar Alice in Wonderland, that he gets the actors to have fun in this mostly CGI world but he adds enough new tricks from Baum's original novels to pay homage without duplicating.

Oz conjures up some great action and although it won't change the film world, it is an enchanting piece of fluff that is a good way to spend a few hours with the family. This Wiz is the biz! 7/10 Midlands Movies Mike.