Oz: The Great and Powerful

A very beautiful fairy tale, but I was (unpleasantly) surprised by how "anti" the main character was. And for that, I won’t give it a fifth star even if I wanted to. Otherwise, however, I am one of those who was moved by the gluing of the porcelain doll's feet, enchanted by the colored world (cursing Raimi's "coloring book" would be like cursing Technicolor from the original film), and amused by the digital monkey. James Franco is good, but it’s too bad that he’s not particularly sympathetic, the trio of witches is perfect, and Danny Elfman's score is more than pleasant (the theme!). Four and a half. (03/12/2013)

For the first half, I was seething with the words: "This isn't a movie, it's just a dusty attraction!". A chain carousel that gives you the creeps, a product for one purpose: so that the capos at Disney can afford new limousines. But there is one big BUT. Although I subscribe to a completely different world of cinema, I ended up feeling like someone on a weight loss diet who visits a candy store with all its delicacies wrapped in colorful and at first glance tempting packaging, and bites into one of them. Superficial, I know, but sometimes you just succumb to something like that easily. The last act improved the final impression, and the incorporation of technical conveniences into the fairy tale world was reminiscent of the best of The Wizard of Oz from 1939, or Vaughn's Stardust, which is still proof that a fairytale can be done in a clever way. So in the end....in the end, it wasn't as silly and overwrought as the disastrous trailer might make it seem. (03/09/2013)

Raimi has taken a story for little girls and re-vamped it into a movie for little boys with a soft-spot for machinery and magic tricks. Edison’s legacy is alive even here and I’m glad. However, it fails when confronted with real magic and some aspects are very jarring. Paradoxically, it is the Land of Oz itself, its laws and its fame are responsible for this, because the story about a dapper fraudster who finds good inside himself works only in terms of its artiness, but is spoiled by the poor production design, full of obviously digital or even plastic substitutes for the real world. Franco isn’t suited to a world like that, but that’s what I liked about his Oz. He’s a modern person, but with fantasy and ending up in this strange land doesn’t surprise him, he just wants to get as many laughs as he can from it (the scene with the cashier reminds me of Scrooge McDuck). I didn’t like the trio of magicians one bit. Just Mila Kunis was magically naive at the beginning, but things went downhill with her after her transformation. If a new and original world were presented or if I were younger, I would have given Oz: the Great and Powerful more. P.S.: I get Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz confused and these alternative stories don’t help me at all. Is it only me, or you have a similar problem? (05/28/2013)

"The Powerful Ruler of Oz" tries to overcome the shortcomings in the story through its form. It works similarly to how it worked in "Alice in Wonderland". The form will impress you, visually it's an orgy, although not for everyone, for some it will be a bit too much, but you will still leave the cinema disappointed, or at least not as fulfilled as you probably imagined. It is simply a story that is too simple. Furthermore, there is a lack of a true climax - it will only occur in the film "The Wizard of Oz". This is a great shame. Another wasted opportunity. I somewhat don't understand why Raimi didn't use more of his sense of horror atmosphere and horror elements. Not that you won't like the film, but you won't leave it excited. Instead, you will be thinking about what you will have for dinner and quickly forget about this experience. (11/19/2013)

If there's anything I hate most about classic Hollywood, it's the three-star The Wizard of Oz in ethereal Technicolor colors, the auteurist wonder Citizen Kane, and The Wisconsin School. Yet, amazingly, Raimi's visionary approach and love of 1905 technological advances did the trick. So, if James Franco, who has proven he can play leading roles in spectacles and downright intimate dramas about a man, a rock and a hand, Bruce Campbell in a horrible mask, Ted Raimi somewhere in the crowd, Danny Elfman over a sheet of music, etc., are all in place, then everything is perfectly fine. The epicenter of pleasure is based on the presence of the praxinoscope and other technical proto-crap, the Edison name, and on the fact that 3D has its cards nicely laid out on the table (in-depth and off the screen), and I actually experienced for the first time what Curly Sue did back in 1991. What a time gap! The porcelain girl was incredibly sweet, but somehow I still can't figure out which of the witches was more loveable. Finally, proper girl wars! (03/06/2013)