James Franco’s Oz: “I’m just not the man you wanted me to
be.” It’s the one line that rings true.
Nor is the film the film I wanted it to be.
I came to this movie with perhaps too great an expectation. After all, Disney interpreting the pre-Dorothy world of Oz seemed like it would be fun. I
like the work of leads James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis and director Sam Raimi.
Unfortunately, like the Scarecrow, the film struggles to find a heart
(something you’d think was a no-brainer for a Disney film) and never succeeds
to illicit more than a smile.
Most of the blame for the problems lies with a fairly
mediocre script which rehashs the Dorothy quest to return home while dealing
with the squabbles between the three witch sisters. Into the mix is added two new characters (for the modern audience), a
CGI china doll and a talking monkey. While the new characters are cute, they fail
to support Oz the Magician like Dorothy Gale’s Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the
cowardly lion (who is referenced once early on as a real lion that threatens
and then is scared off). While there are lots of Easter eggs (See here ),
the film is surprisingly one dimensional.
The copyright issues with L. Frank Baum’s material obviously created interesting
problems. All of Baum’s books (hence the plots and characters)
entered into public domain in 1956; some Oz books by later writers retain their
copyright. Samuel Goldwyn purchased the film rights for The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz in 1933, but he subsequently sold them to MGM studio in 1938. In 1954, Walt Disney bought the film rights to Baum’s other 13 Oz books, which led to Return to Oz (1985).
So what things are under copyright and which aren’t? Things in
the book should be in public domain; things from the 1939 film, such as the
ruby slippers and the look of the yellow-brick road were copyright protected.
I liked the opening part of the traveling circus (Baum
Brothers Circus) done in black and white as was MGM’s film. Playing with the
3D, occasionally the director breaks the surrounding frame by having objects
actually fly out of the picture.
After a tornado, we end up in Oz, a land of color. But for
the next section of the film, we seem to have been transported to a trailer for
Disney’s new theme park ride, The Land of Oz. The sequence offers little in terms
of plot and appears to be purely intended to test out ride ideas in glorious 3D
CGI. By the time we make it back to the real story, the momentum and interest
has lagged. At times, I felt the film was attempting to make sure that no opportunity remains for a film version of Wicked.
The most surprising thing I found about the film is the
total lack of charisma conveyed by the four leads. Together they seem unable create
a believability in the reality of the film and their line readings become just
that.
Oz should be a place of wonder, not boring. I was surprised
that I found Jack the Giant Slayer
more fun.
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) ***
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