The Wizard of Oz:
Dorothy is a farm girl in Kansas, she is swept up one boring day in a twister after dreaming of something better. She then is caught up in the world of Oz, a magical dream world. She meets a living scarecrow, a tin man, and a cowardly lion, and they go on a quest to get their wishes granted by the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, and to destroy the sinister Wicked Witch of the West. The plot is very simple, but that's one of the reasons the film works. Even though the special effects are dated, and some of the acting skills of the cast are questionable, the film appeals to all ages. The simplicity of the story, characters, and special effects adds a layer of charm to it. This, like many other children's classics in my opinion, must be viewed at a young age and then viewed again with a mature eye to truly be appreciated. The film also gives kids and even adults a simple message: No matter where you go or end up, there's no place like home. The film also delivers some of the most terrifying character in a children's film. Sure, The Wicked Witch and the Flying Monkeys don't seem that scary now, but don't lie, those god-damn monkeys and that witch were creepy when you were a toddler. They even got The Wizard of Oz put on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments countdown in 2003. Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Bert Lahr, Roy Bolger, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton all give fantastic performances, especially for the late 30's. Now, these stars were pretty big in their day, I mean, they weren't all A-listers, but this would be the equivalent of Natalie Portman, Ben Kingsley, Edward Norton, Jim Carrey, James Franco, Ewan McGregor, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, Patrick Wilson, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Robert Downey Jr, Ben Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Don Cheadle, Sigourney Weaver, Ethan Hawke, and Blake Lively getting together for a fantasy-adventure-musical. Again, not all are A-listers, not all are even B-listers, but they are all well-known and pretty damn good actors and actresses. The music and songs are classic. Now, I'm not a big musical guy, yeah, I enjoy a good one, but I don't seek out every last one. But these songs, especially "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" are ingrained in popular culture for a reason. The songs also have the huge sets that usually go with big musical numbers. These sets, hell, the entire setting of the film, are fantastic, and are full of color. A memorable thing in the film is the fact that everyone Dorothy meets in her travels represent someone she knows from Kansas. Another memorable thing about the film is that it begins with a grainy, black and white format, and when Dorothy gets to Oz, the film pops with color. The Wizard of Oz is a fantastic film, and must be seen by every person, regardless of genre preference. 5/5 stars.
Return to Oz:
A lot of people either don't remember this one or have never even heard of it. That's because it was so strange, surreal, and creepy, that Disney (yes, they got the Oz film rights from Warner Bros.) buried it, only giving it a small VHS and DVD release, no anniversary releases or Blu-ray. (By the way: Don't worry, Warner Bros. still has all rights to the original film.) The film follows Dorothy, who has told everyone about her magical and wonderful journey to Oz. She is now being given intense electroshock treatment at the local Kansas mental institution. Suddenly, she is whisked away backed to Oz with her pet chicken (yeah, no more Toto) who can now talk. She sees that the Emerald City is in ruins, her friends are turned to stone, and there are freaky-ass weirdos running around called The Wheelers. They brought nightmares to many children of the 80's and 90's. There's a weird bitch called Mombi who wears different heads every day. But, I do respect the film for trying to introduce kids to other fragments of Oz. Although I don't think the Wheelers where in the Oz books, I know the supporting heroes Jack Pumpkinhead and Tik Tok were. The film has a cult following now. The Academy Awards even gave it a nomination for Best Visual Effects. The special effects are pretty good, but they don't raise the film higher. The film has no great actors (the biggest ones here are Deep Roy and Piper Laurie, who play minor characters), it's barely a sequel to the original, has no great songs, and is pretty damn dark, in fact, too dark for kids. The characters barely even resemble their counterparts from the previous film. There's some very strange elements in the film, such as the new addition of lunch-pail trees and "The Deadly Desert" (a desert that devours people), and "The Gump", a moose head tied to a flying couch. The film is good, but I think that it's too dark, too intense, and a little too surreal. The whole film is in color, and the colors are very dull. Nothing pops like in the original, and I would like for it to have the opening scenes in Kansas to be in black and white like in the original. Return to Oz has some major issues, but if you really want to, check it out. 2.5/5 stars.
Oz, The Great and Powerful:
Oscar Diggs (nicknamed Oz by his peers) is a county fair magician who wants something more from life. One day he is whisked away by a freak tornado, and winds up in the magical land of Oz. He finds out that there was a prophecy foretelling his arrival, and he is thrilled to hear that the prophecy also states he will rule the land will countless riches in his possession. But, only if he defeats the mysterious witch who torments the land and saves the magical land. At first only doing it for the riches, he eventually makes friends with a talking winged monkey, a little girl made of china, and Glinda, the Good Witch. These events propel Oscar on the road to becoming the "Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz." This film is surprisingly really good. Like with Dorothy, most of the people Oscar meets in Oz represent someone he knew in the real world. (One thing that separates this film from the other films, it's unknown if Oz is a real place or not, while in the original, it's definitely a dream world.) James Franco is fantastic as Oscar, he's charismatic, intelligent, funny, and likeable. Zack Braff (Scrubs) plays his assistant in the Kansas county fair, and voices his monkey counterpart Finley in the world of Oz. Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams plays the three witch sisters, all beautiful, but one holds a dark secret. They all give good performances. Joey King voices the China Girl, a little girl who joins Oscar and Finley in their quest to kill the witch, and who grows to almost see Oscar as a father figure. Bill Cobbs plays the Master Tinker, and Tony Cox plays Knuck, a Munchkin who works at the Emerald City palace. Bruce Campbell gives his usual Sam Raimi cameo as a Winkie guard. The direction by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Evil Dead, The Gift, Drag Me to Hell) is fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised. He makes many allusions to the books and the original film: from the black and white opening, to the scarecrow, to the cowardly lion. (Look on Wikipedia, the number of allusion is quite fascinating.) He also brings some dark moments to the film, from the revamped and even more terrifying Flying Monkeys (now rabid baboon creatures), to the opening scene in the China Town. The opening credits are pretty inventive, too. The camerawork is great (Raimi always uses unique camera angles in all his films, even in his early horror films) as always and the special effects are amazing. The music by Danny Elfman fits the film perfectly. No wonder this is the #1 movie in the world right now, it's a great movie. Anyone who has fond memories of the original should see this movie as soon as possible. Oz, The Great and Powerful is really something great, and should be enjoyed by anyone who enjoyed the original film, and everyone in general. It appeals to all ages, everything is nearly perfect. Completely lives up to the hype. (Except the Wicked Witch's cackle, that sounded just awful.) 5/5 stars.
(Images: Wikipedia)
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