海角大神

The for Evil Dead and Spider-Man聽trilogy director Sam Raimi鈥檚 (which Disney premiered at this year鈥檚聽) overflows with vibrant colors, zany creatures, and picturesque 3D trickery, but it does little to counter a longtime assertion 鈥� namely, that the Mouse House鈥檚 semi-prequel to The聽Wizard of Oz聽is an attempt to replicate the $uccess of Tim Burton鈥檚 by giving the same cinematic treatment to L. Frank Baum鈥檚 Oz literature (right down to the March release date).

A full-length trailer for Raimi鈥檚聽Oz the Great and Powerful is now online, offering a better look at the film鈥檚 unique rendition of that land 鈥榮omewhere over the rainbow鈥� (as envisioned by Alice production designer Robert Stromberg) and the human cast which includes James Franco 鈥� playing the young 鈥榳izard鈥� Oscar Diggs 鈥� as well as Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams as the three witches wrestling to control the fate of Oz (Theodora, Evanora and Glinda, respectively).

However, if the original Oz trailer left you with feelings of d茅j脿 vu dread, this new promo isn鈥檛 going to change your mind. The script from Mitchell Kapner (The Whole Nine Yards) and David Lindsay-Abaire () now appears to lift elements directly from Alice in Wonderland鈥�s playbook, right down to making its protagonist the 鈥榗hosen one鈥� whose arrival has been prophesied to bring peace to the film鈥檚 fantastical setting. Moreover, the CGI characters which are shown here 鈥� timid flying monkey Finley (Zach Braff) and fragile China Girl (Joey King, ) 鈥� also resemble the celebrity-voiced/digitally-rendered inhabitants of Burton鈥檚 Wonderland, in the sense that their personalities and vocals (so far) seem somewhat hit-or-miss.

Bear in mind, the comparisons to Burton鈥檚 Alice in Wonderland aren鈥檛 meant as a condemnation on their own; after all, despite the thrashing that film continues to take from people, . Nonetheless, Alice did commit some major missteps 鈥� such as a noble, but misguided, attempt to flesh out the source material mythology and over-abundance of quirky CGI characters and effects 鈥� and, unfortunately,聽Oz seems to be repeating many of them. Thus, it鈥檚 hard to not be skeptical and suspect that Raimi鈥檚 film (much like Burton鈥檚) could amount to another dazzling, but hollow, mishmash of muddled storytelling and technical finesse.

Here is an聽 for Oz the Great and Powerful:

When small-time magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) pulls one flimflam too many, he finds himself hurled into the fantastical Land of Oz where he must somehow transform himself into the great and powerful Wizard鈥攁nd just maybe into a better man as well.

Sandy Schaefer blogs at .