‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ Review

Oz the Great and Powerful was anything but great and powerful. Now don’t get me wrong the movie wasn’t bad at all and well deserves the inevitable sequel that is coming. That being said I was hoping that this prequel would delve more into the mythos of Oz and show us more of this wondrous land.  Instead, we are stuck following that stupid yellow brick road again. At least there wasn’t any singing this time, thank God. After making that statement let me just say that I love the original film and will sing that song every time I hear it. I’m just not a big fan of singing in movies that aren’t musicals. Now back to Oz, I really wanted to see more of it. I wanted to see more land, more people, more anything. This movie introduces the three witches from the original when they were much younger.  We first see Theodora, who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Mila Kunis. Then we meet Evanora, the secretly evil Wicked Witch of the East, played by Rachel Weisz. Lastly, there is Glinda the Good Witch of the South, played by Michelle Williams. Out of all of these characters, Theodora was my favorite. She was given the most depth and I felt for her characters hurt. We see what turned her to evil in the first place. Actually, it’s a who and he’s the film’s protagonist Oscar Diggs, played by James Franco. Even though she stays evil in the end and Oz becomes everyone’s hero, I couldn’t help but think that it was all his fault. As a viewer, you are led to believe that he seduced her and possibly took her virginity to boot. Even though it was her sister who tricked her into her evil ways I believe Oscar could have tried harder to turn her back good. They could have chased after her or something. Glinda is a witch for goodness sake, why couldn’t she use her powers to undo the spell. Also, it only makes me sadder because I know of her eventual fate. This leads to more unanswered questions. Questions like are there really only three witches in all of Oz? Why is Theodora weak against water? Why does Glinda put her stone in a wand and not wear it like the other two? And if tornadoes are the only way to Oz, why haven’t more people from the Midwest just popped up there? These are questions we may never know. Or maybe they will be answered in the sequel. Which I hear will be a remake of the original film starring Dorothy. As long as they don’t make a carbon copy and expand on the story I am fine with it. I give Oz the Great and Powerful a Decent 7.5/10 because it takes a seriously hot girl to be still kinda hot in ugly green makeup!

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