Oz the Great and Powerful
2013
**½
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King, Tony Cox
Like The Wizard of Oz, this unofficial prequel begins in black and white Kansas. A selfish and womanising traveling circus magician Oscar Diggs is magically transported to the colourful Land of Oz. There he is mistaken for a great wizard and ends up in the middle of a power struggle between three witch sisters. Sam Raimi's fantasy film is quite likeable but utterly disposable, and way too long. The 1939 classic has endured for more than 70 years. Sam Raimi can count himself lucky if anyone recalls this the next day. The problem is that all of the film's mythology (from L. Frank Baum's books) is recycled, and Raimi's main contribution to the franchise are the 21st century special effects. He does create some imaginative visuals, but everything in Oz looks so over-saturated and artificial that it brings back painful memories of the plasticky world in Tim Burton's terrible Alice in Wonderland.
