Film: Oz the Great and Powerful

Director: Sam Raimi 
Genre: Fantasy
Source: USA (2013)
Rating: PG
Location/Format: AMC Orange Park
Grade:D+

So after seeing Oblivion in IMAX, we decided to make a day of it and turn our movie outing into a double feature. Unfortunately, we chose Oz the Great and Powerful as our second film, and this movie is not very good.

Sam Raimi. Really hit and miss for me.

This prequel to the Wizard of Oz has a few great things going for it: Raimi has fun playing with the 3D and the visuals, the China Girl is a pretty good little character, and Mila Kunis is still pretty good looking. Unfortunately, the story and writing are uninspired (a particular problem with prequels? We know how this ends!), most of the characters are uninteresting, and Mila Kunis is completely miscast. At least Rachel Weisz is there to make this world look like somebody belongs in it. 

Maybe the film is just pitched at an audience 25-30 years younger than I am, but I found myself incredibly bored, annoyed by bad jokes, and shocked by how bad I thought Mila Kunis's makeup was. Fortunately, the film's climactic siege of the Emerald City (including the incorporation of scarecrows and the world's greatest smoke machine) salvaged a little of the movie, but not enough to turn the tide for me. I'm glad I had already seen the far more interesting Oblivion, because at least I felt my time at the movies had not been a complete waste.

Still, Sam Raimi: you need to find your groove again. Because it's not in Oz.

Alternate Film Title: "Oz the Great and Terrible--Because When I Played Oz in My Junior High School Production of The Wizard of Oz, That Was My First Line, Shouted Boldly Through My Barely Pubescent Lungs . . . Good Times."