The Wonderful Miscasting of Oz!

I know it's about a week late but I attest that I in fact saw Oz on opening day. Now I know the verdict has been given already that Oz: the Great and Powerful is already doing well and making the cash Disney wanted and may have perhaps become the Oz movie Walt Disney always wanted.

Overall, I thought this movie was good but was missing what it needed to be Great. The overall story revolves around Oz, no Dorothy, and his journey for greatness. I loved the opening in sepia tone as a call back to the Wizard of Oz. Here you get a sense of Oz as a man who was selfish and a liar but always hoping for greatness. He goes on a journey to Oz to fulfill his wish of greatness and to fool the people into believing he is the great Wizard of Oz, named after their land, come to fulfill the prophecy and kill the Wicked Witch. Now cue obligatory long sequence of the introduction of the land of Oz.

We meet Mila Kunis and she shows us that her range is quite low and later in a "plot twist" she is revealed to be the Wicked Witch of the West. Now I felt this was one of the most obvious plot turns considering that there is no merchandise of Mila Kunis is non green form. It kind of makes you think REALLY when it happens, partially because the performance is so god awful but also because it wasn't much of a plot twist.

Next we meet Finley (the great Zach Braff) and we come to find that Oz and Finley's "bromance" is what will carry this whole film. Finley and the China Girl (Joey King) along with Oz are the best characters in this whole film. It's hard to think how bad this would have been without them. Finley was amazing as the comedic relief. China Girl as a character was great because it brought out the heart and was kind of like a Jiminy Cricket to Oz.

After Finley's introduction and a reference to the Cowardly Lion, we meet Rachel Weisz as the Wicked Witch of the East and we find that she is the only Witch that is well casted and well performed. She gives Oz the task of killing her sister Glinda the good witch (Michelle Williams). Personally, I thought "How am I supposed to believe Michelle Williams as the Good Witch when anyone who saw Blue Valentine knows she's the Wicked Witch." Not to mention, I thought her performance was lacking.
Now the movie goes into a kind of formulaic "Oh I can't do this" and a "Yes you can because I believe in you" segment and then Oz decides to take on the Wicked Witches. Now I thought that Oz's plan to take on the Witches was pretty fantastic but then the ending kind of ruins it with Oz hooking up with the Good Witch. I was sitting there like "why did I need that to bring a happy ending to this movie?" I guess someone thought the China Girl accepting Oz, Finley, Knuck, and Glinda as her new family wasn't good enough to end the movie on.

Overall though, it was a good enough film, it just lacks that great quality but Sam Raimi is known for that (Spiderman 1 and 3). It's definitely worth seeing over the junk that is out right now (The Call, Burt Wonderstone, Movie 43).