OZ The Great and Powerful Rated: PG

Tory Says: 

My husband said he wanted to see Oz the Great and Powerful so we saw it at the Drive-in. (We have a toddler so for us, it is the easiest place to see movies!) The story is actually meant to be a prequel to The Wizard of Oz and for those of you who have seen it; no…it has nothing to do with “Wicked.” (the book or the play) 

So the story follows small town carnival magician Oscar “Oz” Diggs played by James Franco. He is a ladies man and while running away from one of his ladies husband’s he ends up in a hot air balloon that (along with a tornado) lands him in Oz. He meets 3 witches (Michelle Williams as Glinda, Rachel Weisz as Evanora and Mila Kunis as Theodora) who all want him to “Save Oz” from the Wicked Witch. Along his journey he meets an adorable China Doll girl and a sweet winged monkey. After being attacked a few times by the witch, he realizes he might not be the wizard that Oz wanted but he is the wizard they need.

I liked this movie but I wasn’t as impressed as I'd hoped. Most of the acting was ok but I wasn't impressed by Michelle Williams portrayal of Glinda. She was a little too breathy and wispy in her delivery. The digital effects were beautiful. Normally that kind of thing bothers me but this was done VERY well!! It didn't hurt my eyes or make me feel like everything I was looking at was fake! I was happy to see that the Wicked Witch's evil winged baboons were still scary like the original winged monkeys! I did like how they kept with the original Oz theme and made the first part in black & white while Oz is where it becomes color. A few scary moments so I wouldn't take any child under 11 or so. (Our little one had a kids movie playing in the backseat!) All in all I would give this movie a 7 out of 10. I don't really have anything bad to say about it but not that much good either. It was just "ok" for me. 

Cat Says:

We ended up going to see Oz tonight. It wasn't exactly planned, more like a girls night out so we have to go see something. I have to say that my review doesn't differ from Tory's by much. I will say that James Franco didn't really bother me, no more than normal. He was supposed to play shmarmy and superficial which he does very well. What did surprise me was how bad the acting was by Kunis, Williams and Weisz. The movie feels long. Yet as long as it feels you don't get enough character development in any of the characters except Oz in order to form attachments to them or root for them. Still, I would have given even that a pass had the special effects been up to par. Yes, it is colorful...but you can see the green screen effects. Awful pun to say that you do, indeed, see behind the curtain of this almost totally CGI'd movie but you do. The Emerald City looks like it was painted. You can see where the scene props leave off and the effects begin. For those of us who revel in special effects movies like last summer's Avengers, it's hard to not just take one step back but several steps back in the evolution of this medium.

Now, what I did like. When they were IN the cities and the sets were built sets, not CGI, I loved it. The China Doll character was my favorite. So much so that I found myself thinking "she's a china doll and she still has more facial expressions than Kristen Stewart!". I couldn't help myself. Zac Braff was very good as the monkey sidekick. Both of those effects were done very well. There is one point where they used a projected image to scare the witches and it was the one part of the special effects that I loved. And while I didn't like the flying monkeys of the first Oz movie I really really didn't like the flying baboons of this one...and when I say I didn't like them I mean they scared me so they were perfect! LOL! However, I'd worry about children under 13 being totally freaked out by some of the witch behavior and by the baboons. The other thing is that, at one point, the two evil witches have the good witch tied up and, basically, one is using her powers to electrocute the good witch. So something to consider if you have younger kids in your household. How this got a PG rating I'll never know.

I am giving it a 6.5 on my scale. Do you need to see it on the big screen, no. In fact, seeing this on the small screen might do the special effects a whole lot of favors. I don't go see 3-D movies because they make my head hurt so I can't tell you whether 3-D would help or hurt the special effects. If you are dying to see it on the big screen then go to a matinee and save yourself some money in the process...if not, wait for Netflix. 

Barbara Says:

Well, just what can I say about OZ? It has beautiful color? Great costumes? Lots and lots of special effects? But not a very good story line and the acting was barely passable. Kind of sad when the three of us decided the talking doll was the best part of the entire movie. 

I found myself doing something I never do at a movie-yawning.  We also decided that someone very young might enjoy it but then again someone I know who saw it said their daughter started to get restless half way through.    

Not really sure why it just did not make the grade with me. I would not go see it again and that is what makes a really good movie for me. That I would want to see it again. Being a movie family and having worked for the theater so we went for free to see movies.  I sometimes had to see a movie 3-4 times so I could take all my family.  Up till now never minded but wouldn't do that for this one. If the effects are your thing go see that but don`t look for a good movie to go with them.