Reason Senior Editor Peter
Suderman reviews Oz the Great and Powerful, director Sam
Raimi’s sorta-prequel to The Wizard of Oz, in today’s
Washington Times:
Let’s start with the obvious: ;Sam Raimi’s “Oz the Great and
Powerful” does not even begin to compare with the timeless majesty
of its 1939 predecessor, ;Victor Fleming’s “The Wizard of Oz,”
which still ranks as one of the great big-screen fantasies.
The good news is that ;Mr. Raimi’s movie doesn’t really try
— and, indeed, often seems charmingly aware of its own relative
shortcomings. ;
Technically speaking, ;Mr. Raimi’s film is not related
to ;Fleming’s “The Wizard of Oz” at all: Instead, ;Mr.
Raimi’s movie is based on public domain material from the works of
children’s author ;L. Frank Baum.
Still, even if “Oz the Great and Powerful” is not legally a
prequel, it serves much the same function, telling the story of how
Oz (James Franco), a young magician and con-man from Kansas, ends
up in a bright and mystical faraway world in need of saving. On his
way, he meets a trio of witches (played by ;Mila
Kunis, ;Rachel Weisz, andMichelle Williams), a flustered winged
monkey (Zach Braff) and a tiny girl made out of china (Joey King).
It’s an origin story — a tale about how the Wizard of Oz became The
Wizard of Oz.
Mr. Franco ;is an enjoyable, if understated, presence as Oz,
who he plays as a sort of disaffected stoner. But it’s ;Mr.
Raimi ;who’s the real star. ;
Read the whole thing. ; … Read More
