Warning, Spoilers!
I'll say this about the movie, it sure was pretty. Halfway through the Great and Powerful Oz I found myself wondering if Tim Burton (aka ruiner of childhood classics) had a hand in this. I love the stories of Oz and I couldn't help thinking that L. Frank Baum would have been terribly disappointed with what was done to his story.
Plot:
Con man, womanizer, and cheap carnival magician Oscar who also known as "Oz" escapes the trouble he's caused in Kansas by accidently entering a Tornado via a hot air balloon. When arriving in a land that is also called Oz he encounters the sweet and naive Theodora who is the good Witch of the West. She tells him that he is the foretold wizard who will save Oz.
I'll say this about the movie, it sure was pretty. Halfway through the Great and Powerful Oz I found myself wondering if Tim Burton (aka ruiner of childhood classics) had a hand in this. I love the stories of Oz and I couldn't help thinking that L. Frank Baum would have been terribly disappointed with what was done to his story.
Plot:
Con man, womanizer, and cheap carnival magician Oscar who also known as "Oz" escapes the trouble he's caused in Kansas by accidently entering a Tornado via a hot air balloon. When arriving in a land that is also called Oz he encounters the sweet and naive Theodora who is the good Witch of the West. She tells him that he is the foretold wizard who will save Oz.
Characters:
Oscar aka Oz aka The Wizard
What an epic douche bag! Basically he is a terrible, selfish, womanizing con man who spends the entire movie being a horrible person and only does one or two good things. Actually his best redeeming quality is that Glinda is forced, through the awful plot and her one dimensional character, to believe in him. I am pretty sure that the only reason he does a single decent thing is so that he can be rich and get under Glinda's dress. Throughout the entire movie I couldn't get past what an unapologetic asshole he was and the injustice of such a terrible human being the protagonist and hero.
Glinda
Remember Anne Hathaway's annoyingly, and rather forced, White Queen? Well this Glinda is just like her but in a glittery gown. She is clearly a leader to her people and clever in her own right, which begs the question of why she should actually need the Wizard's help. She is the damsel in distress but an unconvincing one due to having actual magical powers instead of the fake magic the wizard has. So why is he the hero who gets all the credit and she just the pretty love interest who makes him want to be a better man? Her motivation is that she wants to avenge the death of her father and protect her people.
Evanora
She sure was fun. She was wicked for the sake of being wicked, where as Glinda is so nice that it hurts. Evanora is so mean that it feels good. Sure she manipulates her little sister but she did it for the greater evil and I can respect that. She also does her sisterly job of pointing out that the man her sister is in love with is a jerk. The plot doesn’t give her any motivation past being evil and power hungry which I think is another failing of the movie. Sure I like Evanora's cool meanness, but since every other witch has another motivation I think she deserves one too.
Theodora
She started off as such a great character. Naive and hopeful, your heart breaks for her as you watch The Wizard take advantage of her. She deserved a lot more than to being made into nothing more than the crazy ex-girlfriend who goes for the Oz equivalent of busting the windows out of your car. I thought Mila Kunis did a great job with the character she was given, especially when playing the very sweet "good" Theodora. It is a shame that one bad boyfriend is the motivation for her going all "wicked witch of the west". Sadly, Theodora’s character is reminiscent of that petty teenager who is jealous that her boyfriend ditched her for the stereotypical hot blonde in some bad 80s high school movie.
This movie gets a….
Big Thumbs Down
The problem with Oz: The Great and Powerful is that it undermines Buam's original work. To put things in perspective let’s get a little history on the Author. Baum was a supporter of women's rights, he wrote editorials supporting women's rights to vote. His mother-in-law was also a famous suffragist. Not only do his stories set in the world of Oz have strong female characters but also other books he penned like Edith Van Dyne featured strong and independent young women as well. So now this movies takes two strong female characters who are a powerful part of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz plot and relegates them to being defined by a man who is a second tier character at best (although the story is named after him). These great characters are made to be nothing but love interests, a damsel in distress and a jilted woman. I don't really think that is a fair deal. Now I am not opposed to a love story but there seems to be a wrong way and a right way to do it. This movie is the former.
The problem with Oz: The Great and Powerful is that it undermines Buam's original work. To put things in perspective let’s get a little history on the Author. Baum was a supporter of women's rights, he wrote editorials supporting women's rights to vote. His mother-in-law was also a famous suffragist. Not only do his stories set in the world of Oz have strong female characters but also other books he penned like Edith Van Dyne featured strong and independent young women as well. So now this movies takes two strong female characters who are a powerful part of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz plot and relegates them to being defined by a man who is a second tier character at best (although the story is named after him). These great characters are made to be nothing but love interests, a damsel in distress and a jilted woman. I don't really think that is a fair deal. Now I am not opposed to a love story but there seems to be a wrong way and a right way to do it. This movie is the former.
Save your money and don't see this movie until it comes out on DVD or on HBO. Definitely don't bother paying the extra money to see it in 3D, I did and it really wasn't worth it.
Recommended links:
Game Review of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
GUEST BLOGGER INFO
Contributing writer: Rainbow S. Coan
Rainbow Coan is a Sci-fi and fantasy movie/T.V enthusiast and all around nerd. Her hobbies include playing StarCraft II (mainly as Terran), reading Sci-fi & fantasy books, and playing games on Xbox. She has a Zombie Apocalypse survival plan and identifies strongly with Hobbits. Her favorite game of all time is King's Quest 6.
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