Oz, the Not-So Great and Wonderful

Once again, it seems I have neglected my duties here. This blog seems to suffer the most while I'm busy  with my teaching requirements--you know, grading and such. Every once in a while, an idea will pop into my head, but before I have the chance to write it down, I start to feel guilty: Grading has to be done. But now I'm in the middle of Spring Break, and while there is still grading to be done, my guilt is outweighed by my desire to relax and write something that has absolutely nothing to do with teaching others how to write.

And so, I bring you a review of Sam Raimi's latest film, Oz the Great and Powerful, a prequel to the classic, The Wizard of Oz. This time, we follow the adventures of Oscar (James Franco) before he became all "great and powerful." Turns out, he was a poor, philandering magician attached to a traveling carnival. Then one day, a twister whisks him away to the land of Oz, where he meets three beautiful witches. Sounds like the making of a wonderful and intriguing story, but sadly no. For the most part, this film's story is rather dull. The visuals are great--especially the CGI character, China Girl--but the real tragedy is in the casting of Mila Kunis as Theodora (The Wicked Witch of the West).

Mila Kunis is a fine actress, but she is tragically miscast here. Yes, she can play an cold, evil seductress--just look at her wonderful performance in Black Swan--but a cold seductress is not what this film needs. Oddly, enough, this film needs a scenery-chewing, bold performance, one that is not too scared to be over-the-top wicked. And that's where the tragedy thickens, because the film DOES have a scenery-chewing performance in the delightfully wicked Rachel Weisz, who plays Evanora (The Wicked Witch of the West).

Now, I'm not saying Kunis should not have been cast, but I think she would have been better served playing Evanora rather than Theodora. Weisz's character is cold, calculating, and down-right manipulative, something Kunis could have pulled off with ease. And as I watched Weisz deliver the stand-out performance of the film, I kept asking myself, "Why didn't Raimi cast HER as The Wicked Witch of the West? She's terrifying."

Of course, I do hate to compare this film to its classical "sequel," but Margaret Hamilton's performance is the stuff of nightmares, even when she's playing Miss Gulch. Kunis' performance, not so much. Kunis looked the part, but she couldn't sell it. Instead of going over-the-top, Kunis goes under. Bless her heart, she tries. But doesn't quite get there. On a good note, Kunis will probably have another opportunity in the sequel. After all, the film is doing well at the box office, so Kunis should spend the time studying how to sell being over-the-top wicked.

That being said, the rest of the film looks wonderful, even the 3D presentation looked good. But there's a huge problem with a film when the preview for a 3D version of Jurassic Park produces more tension then the film I paid to see.

*As a side note, I can't wait to see Jurassic Park in 3D. Not only does the 3D look better than anything I've ever seen, I'm also looking forward to experiencing the film on an IMAX screen. The T-Rex's performance, now that's selling terror.