Review of The Wizard of Oz (1939) by Leonard N — 02 Oct 2016

The Wizard of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz is, simply put, a masterpiece of its age. It is a wonderful kid's movie, but it will also entertain teenagers and grownups, especially cinephiles. With a ton of incredible sceneries, wonderful characters, funny and innovative costumes, and a beautiful plot about not only adventure, but also family and home, it makes a movie anyone can watch and enjoy.

The protagonist in The Wizard of Oz is a little girl who is tired of the farm she is living in with her family. The farm looks like a very melancholy and dark place, and it seems as if no one has time for her. She is dreaming of a wonderful place, a happy place where she can be a kid. Shortly after this, she does get what she is wishing for, as she somehow after a storm ends up waking up in a fantasy world full of wonderful creatures and happy colors. She gets greeted as a hero, after unknowingly killing an evil witch during her crash landing into the world. Very soon she realizes how worried her mom must be after losing her daughter, and decides to somehow make it back home. This is how her adventure to meet the great and mystical Wizard of Oz begins. As she is making her way to meet the wizard we get to meet a ton of new, both evil and good, fairytale-like creatures, with very convincing and straight forward character traits. Her adventure gets very suspenseful as she and her newfound friends finally get to meet the highly spoken about Wizard of Oz, it gets unclear if she is actually going to make it home. But in the end they do figure things out, and she does make it back home to her family, where she feels like she actually belongs. A lot of the music we get to hear throughout her adventure are cleverly describing what is happening, and makes the film even more fun to watch. It also serves as some help for the younger audience to keep up with the story.

Even though the film is almost 80 years old, the plot has not grown old the slightest, and even though the special effects do not hold up to today's standards (it was made in 1939, so we are going to have to accept it), they are still impressive considering what year the movie was made. As a watcher you look forward to seeing the next scenery, or how the next creature will be and look like. This makes the movie very enjoyable. This also helps with the pacing, as you are always looking forward to the next scene (a lot of older movies tends to be slow paced, and sometimes therefore boring for audience nowadays).

The Wizard of Oz catches the essence of adventure, dreams and excitement. It is impossible not to smile as the creatures of this new exciting world sings songs about their newfound hero and what's awaiting her. It was a bliss watching this movie, a timeless classic! As it states in the beginning - "Time has been powerless to put its kindly philosophy out of fashion".

/Leonard.