It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a movie (over 5 months ago), so I guess I better get started again with the first movie I saw this year, Oz the Great and Powerful.  As you could guess from the title, this film takes place in the magical world of Oz.  If you’re one of the three people who has never heard of Oz, it is fantasy world created by L. Frank Baum and has since been featured in several books and movies, the most famous of which is the beloved 1939 film starring Judy Garland.  Seeing how well-known this franchise is, I was unsure of how good this new prequel would be.

    The film, like the original 1939 film, begins in Kansas during the early 20th century, but instead of beginning with Dorothy, we instead begin with a carnival magician named Oz (James Franco).  After getting caught in tornado, he finds himself in a strange world also known as Oz.  It isn’t long before the citizens begin to believe that he is a wizard that will save their world, as mentioned in a prophecy.  In order to do this, he must kill the wicked witch, but not everything goes according to plan.

    Despite the film’s A-list cast, the film features some over-the-top acting and some terrible dialogue.  There were moments of the film where I felt like laughing out loud due to the cheesy lines.  Even the film’s lead, James Franco, didn’t seem right for the role of the wizard.  Also, a few of the special-effects looked off.

    However, a good amount of the special-effects looked impressive, one being a girl made out of china who was animated and acted brilliantly. The first few minutes of the movie were good and left me hoping that the rest of the film would be just as good.  These scenes were in black-in-white and gave us good introduction to the wizard.

    If you are a fan of Oz, I’m not sure how you’ll react to this movie, but for the most part it was an alright film.  Some of the acting and dialogue weren’t the best but it was still a fun movie overall.  Final Rating: 3.5/5