The Wizard of Oz Review.

Thoughts: The Wizard of Oz, a classic that revolutionized the use of Technicolor and made fantasy films popular. Unlike many, I had never watched the entire Wizard of Oz movie when I was a kid, therefore I have no nostalgic attachment to the film and can give a completely unbiased review. While the Wizard of Oz was what I expected for the most part, it was not particularly special, except in the visual aspect, which was certainly spectacular. The story is simple, the acting is incredibly hammy, and the corniness was painful. Despite this, it did have some fun classic movie charm that made the movie amusing and occasionally fun. Something that is importannt to mention, is that I normally cannot stand musicals, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog being the only exception, so I am bias when it comes to musical. Normally I really do enjoy old classic films, even ones that could be considered corny today like the Adventures of Robin Hood, which was made a year before and was filmed in Technicolor. While I certainly see why the Wizard of Oz made such a big impact on film and culture at the time, it does not necessarily hold up well today, at least not without a lot nostalgia. Although musical fans would likely find much more from the film, I did find one or two of the songs bearable and not too terribly annoying, most of the singing, particularly the munchkins song, overstayed its welcome.
My favorite scene of the entire was the flying monkey attack because it was slightly darker in tone than the rest of the movie and the stunt was impressive for the time.


Directed by: Victor Fleming
Genre: Fantasy, Musical,
Release Date: August 25, 1939
Running Time: 101 minutes
MMPA rating: G


The Good: Impressive visuals for the time, Top notch production values, One decent song, Revolutionary,

The Bad: Painfully corny, Relies completely on nostalgia,




Plot: The following plot summary is copied from Wikipedia.com.
In 1900, Kansas farmgirl Dorothy Gale lives with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and farmhands Hunk, Zeke and Hickory, but gets little attention and is told to stay out of the way. Land owner Miss Gulch arrives at the farm demanding that Dorothy's pet dog Toto be destroyed after he bit her. Fearing for Toto's life, Dorothy decides to run away from home. On the road, she meets Professor Marvel, a travelling showman who pretends to foresee Aunt Em falling deathly ill. Dorothy rushes home as a tornado forms nearby. Dorothy's family take shelter in the storm cellar, but, unable to get inside, Dorothy and Toto run into the house. Dorothy is knocked unconscious by debris, and wakes up to find that the house got swept up in the tornado and carried into the sky.
Watch the movie to see what happens next.


Plot: 6.1/10- There is not much to the story, it was very simple and straight, however it was original at the time. Sometimes it is difficult to critic some children's movies, since I have overlook many of the flaws, however there were some "family friendly" films from the time that do hold up well today, like the aforementioned Adventures of Robin Hood. The third act of the Wizard of Oz was superior to the rest of the movie because it lacked nearly as many songs. While the actual story was lacking the whimsical atmosphere was great and it did create a fun and visually appealing fantasy world. The movie did offer a few interesting allegories, similar to many classic children stories. *Spoiler* I found it almost kind of funny is that when Oz gave the Tin Man his "heart" Oz said, "A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others." Isn't that kind of a screwed up moral message? Maybe I am overthinking this, but it is not a general consensus that the message should be the other way around? *End Spoiler*


Action: N/A-


Acting: 3.5/10- Even though I will give the cast some slack because it was probably intentional, the acting was absurdly hammy. Much of it was painful to watch due to its corniness. Only Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow and Jack Haley as the Tin Man gave decent performances among the cast, and I suppose Judy Garland wasn't terrible, however the other cast members were too far over-the-top.


Special effects: 10/10- While many of the sets are clearly sets with painted backgrounds, for the time, the effects were the best. The size and detail of the sets and the was very well done and it uses color well to highlight certain aspects. The makeup work for Dorothy's companions was revolutionary at the time and it still holds up surprising well today. The Tin Man and Scarecrow were especially well done.


Soundtrack: 6.9/10- Considering that it is a musical, many of the songs were annoying to me, but a few songs were decent. The first one with the Tin Man had a classic Bing Crosby type style to it, so it was enjoyable, however the munchkin's songs overstayed its welcome.


Comedy: 6.2/10- There were a few scenes that I found humorous, although most of it lacked in humor.

Would I Watch This Again: Because it is a "classic," maybe many years from now.

Overall: 6.0/10- The Wizard of Oz is not intended for my demographic, because I never watched it as a kid and musicals are not my thing.  For what it is, the Wizard of Oz is not a bad kid's movie, however without the power of nostalgia there is not much there for older audiences, unless the songs are the major draw.

Closing comments: If you do still like the movie because you loved it as a kid, that's great, however for older audiences it does not hold up very well, other than the visuals.

Recommended for: Fantasy fans, Classic film fans, Musical fans,

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Oz the Great and Powerful Review.

You voted for it, so here is my review for Oz the Great and Powerful.

Thoughts: Oz the Great and Powerful, the prequel to the classic, the Wizard of Oz. Sam Raimi brings the world of Oz to the big screen again, but does the movie succeed? Well, in some ways yes, most others no. Oz the Great and Powerful is a great mixed bag, some scenes are excellent and then other scenes just do not work at all. After the first 50 minutes I was invested in the characters, particularly the little CGIed China Girl, and James Franco as Oz was surprisingly great, and shockingly the CGI monkey was not annoying. Usually comedic CGI characters detract from a film and end up being annoying, but Zach Braff was one of the best parts. However, basically all of the main characters other than the three mentioned earlier where poorly developed and the actors who played were subpar, particularly Mila Kunis. There was a sizable portion of the film that felt as if it was not going anywhere. At one point the two best characters, China Girl and Finley the monkey, where not in the movie for a while and even though it mostly made sense in terms of the narrative, their presence was noticeably lacking.
The first 20 minutes of film were in black and white, 4x3 aspect ratio, similar to the original Wizard of Oz. It worked well, and made the reveal of Oz much more impressive, plus I always enjoy classic film making.
Something that almost everyone loved about the film was that the 3D was said to be spectacular, one of the best 3D films, however the transfer to 2D did not go so well. Many of the effects early in the film looked cheap in 2D.
At the time of watching this film, I had not seen the original Wizard of Oz, however I had seen the Tin Man miniseries and I knew the basic plot. I have since watched the film and the review for the original Oz will be coming soon.


Directed by: Sam Raimi
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Family
Release Date: March 8, 2013
Running Time: 130 minutes
MMPA rating: PG


The Good: James Franco was great, Two very likeable CGI characters, Some good humor in the first half, Unique visual style, One unexpected plot twist, Everything about the China Girl, Excellent soundtrack, Occasionally humorous,

The Bad: Weak performances by the witches, Predictable at times, Lacks tonal cohesion, Falls apart later during the middle, Unnecessarily drawn out parts, Underused characters,


Plot: The following plot summary is copied from Wikipedia.com.
In 1905 Kansas, Oscar "Oz" Diggs works as a small-time magician in a traveling circus. As a storm approaches, the circus strongman learns Oscar has flirted with his wife and goes to attack him. Oscar escapes in a hot air balloon, but is sucked into a tornado that takes him to the Land of Oz. There the witch Theodora believes him to be a wizard prophesied to overthrow the Wicked Witch who killed the King of Oz. En route to the Emerald City, Oscar flirts with Theodora, who falls in love with him, wishing to be his queen when she rules Oz. They encounter the flying monkey Finley, who pledges a life debt to Oscar when he saves Finley from a lion.
Watch the movie to see what happens next.


Plot: 6.2/10- Except for one plot twist, Oz the Great and Powerful's plot was predictable and simple, never ended up being something special. However, three characters in particular, where excellent and I was able to become invested in a few characters, which made the simple story much more enjoyable. Normally I am allergic to "cuteness" but I will admit, the China Girl was mighty dang cute and gave movie an emotional core.

Action: 5.0/10- Oz the Great and Powerful is not an action, as it is a fun family fantasy adventure, however there was one entertaining magical fight in the film.

Acting: 6.0/10- The acting is mostly a mixed bag. James Franco was excellent, he played the jerk aspect well and became more likeable as the film continued. Joey Kind and Zach Braff as the two computer generated characters where top notch, even if the effects for their characters was not the best. At first I was wondering why everyone hated Mila Kunis' performance because she was actually pretty good, later in the movie however, she was kind of awful. She was sorely miscast in her role. Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams gave mediocre performances that felt forced and very acted. The other actors were average at best.

Special effects: 7.9/10- The effects where kind of mixed bag. It probably look fantastic in 3D, but many of the effects could have been so much better. The CGI monkey character was alright, but a little too cartoonish, although that did not detract from the film. The other computer generated character, the China Girl, was done well, even if it was not the most impressive CGI I have seen. Although the visual style is a little jarring at first, because it looked like it was all filmed on a set, it started to grow on me and turned out pretty good overall.

Soundtrack: 8.5/10- Danny Elfman brings a perfect whimsical flare and brings the great world of Oz to life. The soundtrack may be the best aspect of the film.


Comedy: 7.2/10- During the first half of the film, there was a quite a bit of well placed humor, however the second half was lacking it.

Would I Watch This Again: Only when re-watching all of the Oz movies years from now would I consider revisiting it.

Overall: 6.3/10- Oz the Great and Powerful might not live of to the "great" in the name, it is nevertheless a fun and entertaining family adventure, despite its predictability.

Closing comments: I am a little torn about the film, some parts were great and others not so much, as a whole however, it had potential that it never reached.

Recommended for: Fantasy fans, Oz fans,

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