Movie Review: Oz: The Great and Powerful

On Sunday, Brig and I headed up to Chunky's in Nashua for lunch and a movie. We both wanted to see Oz so we could reminisce about our second favorite movie from 1939.

The first thing we noticed upon entering the theater was that a girl was having her birthday party there. Just our luck. The second thing we noticed was how short Brig is and her inability to sit anywhere but in the front how many people were there and that we couldn't be picky with our seats. So, our experience didn't start off so hot but the movie won us over.

It starts similarly to the Wizard of Oz, using the black and white Instragram setting to give it that old-timey feel. The (Spoiler! But if you really don't know the story then that's just sad) tornado comes way sooner than I expected but hey, that just means we get to spend more time in Oz. Oddly enough, the wizard's name (Spoiler! But not really a useful fact or plot point) is also Oz. So, Judy Garland's film could have been called Oz of Oz.

Anyway, fast forward a bit and everything is in color, Oz has met the three witches (Who's good? Who's wicked?) and he's walking down yellow brick roads and making new friends *slash* adventure sidekicks who aren't made out of straw, tin or have a mane. In keeping with the original, Oz's adventure mates are all played by characters he knew from life in Kansas.

The best parts of this movie are the references to the original but I think it stands on its own very well. Considering the story is about wizards and witches, and that James Franco isn't always fully invested in things, it never once dips into camp or farce. They have a very strong cast with real acting credentials and it shows.