'Oz The Great and Powerful' is less than magical
鈥�Oz The Great and Powerful鈥� is the latest in a seemingly endless stream of Hollywood fairy-tale redos. It鈥檚 a bit better than 鈥�Jack the Giant Slayer,鈥� but not by much. Directed by Sam Raimi, it鈥檚 a prequel to 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥� that attempts to answer the question, 鈥淗ow did the wizard become the wizard?鈥�
In this version, our wizard started out as Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time Kansas carnival magician who is whisked via hot air balloom into the Land of Oz, where, as imagined by Raimi and screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire, he encounters not one but three witches: Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams). Glinda, of course, is good 鈥� or, to be precise, Good.
Franco is affable and helps tone down the film鈥檚 overly bright and overscaled production values. (The 3-D is passable). Williams is radiant without being sappy. It鈥檚 nice to see Munchkins again, not to mention Quadlings. But long stretches of 鈥淥z鈥� are lumbering and inspiration-free. (Also Dorothy-free.) I鈥檓 no fan of 鈥淲icked,鈥� the musical 鈥淥z鈥� prequel, but at least it had some big-time energy going for it. Raimi鈥檚 film is supposed to be about magic, but magic is in scant supply. Grade: C+ (Rated PG for sequences of action and scary images, and brief mild language.)
