Oz The Great and Powerful - Review

Oz The Great and Powerful
(2013 - March 8)
Adventure | Family | Fantasy
2 hrs. 10 min.

Rated: PG-13
Grade: B+

Director: Sam Raimi
Writers: Mitchell Kapner (screenplay), David Lindsay-Abaire (screenplay), L. Frank Baum (novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz")

Stars: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz | See full cast and crew

Disney's fantastical adventure "Oz The Great and Powerful," directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum's beloved wizard character. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot-fame and fortune are his for the taking-that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity-and even a bit of wizardry-Oscar transforms himself not only into the great wizard but into a better man as well. When small-time magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) pulls one flimflam too many, he finds himself hurled into the fantastical Land of Oz where he must somehow transform himself into the great wizard-and just maybe into a better man as well. -- (C) Walt Disney

If you read my review of Jack The Giant Slayer you may recall that I said when I first saw the previews, I thought this film looks like it could be a great family film, a classic, and I was eager to see it but feared it was going to be a disappointment. My impression about Jack The Giant Slayer was right and I had the same impression about Oz the Great and Powerful, after seeing its trailers. I'm sorry to report that I was right about this film as well.

Oz the Great and Powerful falls short of the 1939 original in warmth, innocence, charm and most certainly in songs, however, it is most certainly a serviceable family film but when stacked up against a cinematic masterpiece  like The Wizard of Oz serviceable simply isn't good enough. Taking on the monumental task of producing a prequel to and icon, one of the most beloved films of all time is indeed a very tall order. Oz the Great and Powerful seemed, for me, to take a long time to get going, but then in retrospect, so did The Wizard of Oz, so I guess that's not a fatal flaw.

I saw the 3D version and it was OK but director Sam Raimi, who directed not only the original Spiderman Trilogy but also the Evil Dead series, uses the 3D like he is still directing a horror film, with scare tactics like spears rain down into the audience.

And then there is one of my pet peeves, stupidity and continuity errors. While the tornado is whisking Oscar 'Oz' Diggs away from Kansas to the land of Oz, his hot air balloon basket is riddled with splintered 2 x 4s (a scary 3D effect where Oscar barely escapes being skewered, more horror movie 3D effects) but in the next scene the projectiles are all gone and there is no sign of the holes in the wicker basket...AARG! Although the subsequent scene of weightless is really quite effective. At any rate, I doubt that you will miss much if you choose to see the 2D version and you'll get to go home with a couple more bucks in your pocket.

Visually, I thought the Dr. Suess type Curly Q mountains and the innumerable waterfalls and natural arches of this latest incarnation of the land of Oz were just a bit too ludicrous and distracted from the mood. In fact, pretty much most of the CGI of Oz looked like just that...CGI, it is very reminiscent of the old painted backdrops from the sound stage era of the Hollywood studios that produced the original The Wizard of Oz.

I also had a bit of a problem with some of the performances. James Franco's (Oz) toothy grins worked very well for the 1905 carnival huckster buy got old very quickly once he arrived in Oz. It takes the entire film before you start to care anything about him. Mila Kunis (Theodora) seemed out of her element and plastic. Her eventual transition into her green makeup was awful, she looked silly rather than frightening. When you are portraying the younger version of Margaret Hamilton, an iconic character that everyone recognizes, the epitome of the scary witch, why change what isn't broken.

Same problem with Michelle Williams (Glinda), she had none of the charm, warmth or class or Billie Burke nor did she have Glinda the Good Witch's signature curly blonde hair, aside from the fact that her acting rang hollow and flat. At least Rachel Weisz (Evenora) is a clean slate so they could pretty much do whatever they wanted with her character.

Since there is no Lion, Scarecrow or Tin Man in this story the Wizard needs some companions to help him on his journey to destroy the wicked witch and fulfill the prophecy...enter Zach Braff (Finley) and Joey King (China Girl).

By way of puppetry and CGI images they are two of the better performances. Several of the small supporting roles were every bit as strong as the starring roles.

Up to this point I have been quite critical of the film but all of that said, it is a good film, a good family film and and entertaining film. It just doesn't measure up to the classic film it is supposed to be introducing. It is much better than the very forgettable Return to Oz (also from Disney) staring Fairuza Balk and Nicol Williamson. 

Oz the Great and Powerful does get kudos for being profanity and sex free. In my opinion it is a bit too cerebral and perhaps a tiny bit too scary for the really small children.

If the Judy Garland classic had never been made you would most likely expect that this film would become a classic, but it will more likely become a soon forgotten footnote to the original.

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Cast

James Franco

Oscar Diggs / Oz

Michelle Williams            Mila Kunis              Rachel Weisz  

Annie / Glinda                        Theodora                              Evanora      

Zach Braff                 Joey King 

        Frank / Finley                 Girl in Wheelchair /  

                                                  China Girl

The Bourne Legacy - Review

The Bourne Legacy 

(2012)

Action / Adventure / Thriller
135 min

PG 13

Director: Tony Gilroy

Writers: Tony Gilroy (screenplay), Dan Gilroy (screenplay), and 2 more credits »

Stars: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, | See full cast and crew

Grade: C+

Expansion of the universe created in Robert Ludlum's novels, centered on a new hero, Aaron Cross, whose ill-fated fortunes have been triggered by the events of the previous three films. The narrative architect behind the Bourne film series, Tony Gilroy, takes the helm in the next chapter of the hugely popular espionage franchise that has earned almost $1 billion at the global box office: The Bourne Legacy. The writer/director expands the Bourne universe created by Robert Ludlum with an original story that introduces us to a new hero (Jeremy Renner) whose life-or-death stakes have been triggered by the events of the first three films. For The Bourne Legacy, Renner joins fellow series newcomers Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach and Oscar Isaac, while franchise veterans Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn reprise their roles. -- (C) Universal

A lot of detractors of this relaunch are critical of Jeremy Renner as an heir to Matt Damon. I have seen the previous Bourne films and I enjoyed them. Jeremy Renner he's not Matt Damon and I wasn't expecting to see a duplicate of Matt but someone new and different.

I didn't have a problem so much with Jeremy Renner (fresh off of The Avengers' success) as with the script and direction. The action sequences are exciting and riveting. The only real problem with that (aside from ubiquitous action film problem of having to buy into the impossibility that they could ever really be) is that the action scenes are non-stop. For me, it is a fatal flaw. The last 3/4 of the film is one, long never ending chase scene...it becomes tedious and mind numbing. You can't blow your wad and expect the the crescendo/orgasm (whatever you want to use as an analogy) to continue on with the same intensity for an hour and a half. What starts out as an intriguing story soon devolves into endless violence, chaos and stunts. You find yourself checking your watch wondering how much longer is this going to go on. In addition, while I'm still on my soapbox, the portrayal of every single government/military/police figure as the evil Boogeyman is wearing thin. Every last one of  them must be presented as a heartless, cold, murderous self-serving, conspiratorial ideologue, yawn, yawn, YAWN!

The Story:

(This synopsis is courtesy of Wikipedia - Quite frankly, because I had a hard time following the story.)

Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is a member of Operation Outcome, one of the CIA's black ops programs, that provides its agents with green pills that enhance physical abilities and blue pills that enhance mental abilities. He is deployed to Alaska for a training assignment and meets another Outcome operative, Number Three (Oscar Isaac). They lodge up in a cabin, but a blizzard prevents them from returning to civilization. In the process, they run out of pills.

Meanwhile, Jason Bourne exposes Operation Blackbriar and the Treadstone Project, leading to CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) and Operation Blackbriar supervisor Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) being investigated by the FBI. Upon learning of this, CIA Director Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn), also under investigation, calls Eric Byer (Edward Norton), a retired USAF Colonel responsible for overseeing the CIA's clandestine operations, for help.

Byer decides to eliminate all Outcome assets and deploys a U-CAV to destroy the cabin where Cross and Number Three are. Cross leaves to survey the area just as a missile destroys the cabin, killing Number Three. Cross uses a sniper rifle to destroy the U-CAV and, realizing that his superiors have ordered his assassination, removes a tracking device in his abdomen, which he forces a wolf that attacks him to swallow. A second U-CAV deployed to eliminate Cross bombs the wolf's nest, and Byer mistakenly assumes Cross has been terminated.

Byer replaces the other Outcome assets' green and blue pills with yellow pills that kill them in a matter of hours, and captures one of Outcome's scientists, Dr. Donald Foite (Zeljko Ivanek), chemically brainwashing him into killing his colleagues. The only survivor is Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), who escapes after Foite commits suicide in order to avoid being questioned by security. Shearing is later attacked in her house by CIA agents ordered to kill her, and rescued by Cross, who convinces her to help him. Shearing reveals that Cross was genetically modified to retain the benefits of the green pills without need of continuous consumption, a process they call "viral off". Cross and Shearing decide to travel to Manila, where the pills are manufactured, to viral off the blue pills into Cross' organism.

On the way there, Cross confides in Shearing that he is Kenneth Kitsom, a U.S. Army soldier who was "killed" by a roadside bomb in the Iraq War. Meanwhile, Byer learns of their plans and deploys Larx-03, a supersoldier that had both pills viralled off into his organism and brainwashed into becoming a remorseless killer, to eliminate them while Cross is weakned by the viral off process. Byer also learns that Landy is expected to face charges for assisting Bourne, while Vosen is expected to be declared innocent and returned to duty.

In Manila, Cross and Shearing arrive at the factory where the pills are produced and Shearing virals off the blue pills. Byer contacts the factory's supervisor and orders a lockdown, but Cross and Shearing are able to escape before Larx arrives and take shelter in a local apartment, where Shearing helps Cross through his recovery from the process, during which he hallucinates of his initiation in Outcome under Byer's supervision.

The following day, Larx informs the local police of Cross' location while Shearing is away buying medicine. She is able to warn Cross, who has recovered from the process, and he escapes from the police and rescues Shearing before they steal a motorcycle and escape, pursued by Larx. After a chase through the streets and marketplaces of Manila, Shearing kills Larx by kicking him out of his motorcycle onto a pillar, killing him upon impact, while Cross' damaged motorcycle swerves off of the road and onto a river. Cross and Shearing are later rescued by a boatman and bribe him with a stolen golden watch into taking them to a ferry, which they board, departing to places unknown.

Cast:

Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross/Kenneth Kitsom
Rachel Weisz as Dr. Marta Shearing
Edward Norton as Eric Byer

Joan Allen, as Deputy Director Pamela Landy
David Strathairn, as Noah Vosen, the former director of Operation Blackbriar

Stacy Keach as Mark Turso
Albert Finney, as Dr. Albert Hirsch, the doctor responsible for the creation of Treadstone
Louis Ozawa Changchien as LARX-03
Scott Glenn, as Ezra Kramer, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Oscar Isaac as Number Three
Donna Murphy as Dita
Željko Ivanek as Dr. Donald Foite

 

The first three films of the Bourne series franchise have been, no doubt, very successful. Together they have grossed nearly $1 billion. The intention of Bourne Legacy is to bring new life into a new expanded franchise. With an opening weekend in the range of $50 million it is highly doubtful that we have seen the last of Aaron Cross or Jeremy Renner. As enamored as Hollywood is with sequals you can expect to see more Bourne adventures in the not to distant future. Matt Damon has indicated that he might join Renner in a Bourne 5