Review of Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) by Frances H — 11 Oct 2013

Visually impressive but it totally lacks the charm of the original movie. This is the second time Disney has tried to make an Oz movie (Return to Oz) and made the mistakes of the books by erring on the dark side.

I don't think the books were at all charming and not many people really read any but the Wizard of Oz anymore because of precisely this quality. Even the title book is disappointing after seeing the MGM musical.

The musical element was also missing from the two later Disney films as well. The songs and dances were one reason why the 1939 film is so beloved and why the movie is so charming to young and old alike.

Songs are also a reason why Wicked has such a following. The actors are also a reason why this movie fails. In the 1939 film, a great cast of actors who had worked with children for many years and were talented at singing and dancing brought the warm hearted characters supporting it's young star--an established child actress--to life.

For a family film, a child needs to be the central character, or children will not find it interesting. And you need an established child star who can do comedy and drama. That Judy Garland had a marvelous voice and could sing and dance, as could Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr was one key to The Wizard of Oz's success.

Frank Morgan was an established character actor who had worked with other child stars, such as Shirley Temple and Margaret O'Bran, and was mainly a comedy actor, as were the aforementioned three. The actors in this film and Return to Oz are dramatic actors with no experience in comedy or musicals.

All of them and the scripts are too dark and rather dull in these two films, and the child actress of Return to Oz was a novice. Having Sam Raimi direct this movie was another mistake. The Evil Dead movies and Army of Darkness had a direct influence here and they were not exactly family type films, so the very able dramatic actors here found themselves trying to cope in a medium none of them had ever tried before, and it shows.

Like John Carter, Disney took a good idea and spoiled it. They've been doing a lot of that since Walt died.