Oz is a carnival huckster plying his trade before unschooled hayseeds, teasing the simple-minded women with gifts and flattery. Like the original, "Oz the Great and Powerful" begins in Kansas in the early 20th century, rendered in black-and-white. Not only is this wizard not wonderful, he's not even particularly likeable. This character is missing a key ingredient of self-loathing. Oz knows he's a fraud, and isn't bothered about it, other than it keeps him from attaining the greatness he feels he deserves. Franco's omnipresent grin is somewhere between the Cheshire cat's smile and a discomfiting leer. This Oz is too full of himself to be sympathetic, and too smarmy to be endearing.
Screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire construct him as a self-deluding dreamer, a man with an outsized conception of himself.įranco and Raimi, though, keep nudging him toward charming rapscallion. James Franco as the titular character, a charlatan magician turned wizard savior, feels like he belongs to another movie.
The result is a smug, overly ornamented amalgam of all three. Their film never quite decides if it wants to be parody, comedy or fantasy. This "Oz," alas, is destined to join them.ĭirector Sam Raimi, his cast and crew started from a place of puzzlement rather than wonderment, which is what this material should be all about. Frank Baum (and his descendants) have been translated many times before and after 1939, including two "official" sequels, one of them animated, neither of which anyone remembers.
OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL CAST CHINA GIRL MOVIE
'Oz the Great and Powerful" is one of those movie projects that likely began in earnestness, progressed with craftsmanship and joy, and was completely doomed from the outset.Īnd not because it's some sort of cinematic travesty to make a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz," one of the most iconic films ever made.
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