Oz The Great And Powerful

I don't think I'm alone in saying that The Wizard Of Oz (1939) is one of the films that are your bread and butter as a child. At least once every couple of months my mum or my sister would whack the video tape in and I'd sit on the floor, no more than a foot away from the telly, watching Dorothy make her way down the yellow brick road. I'm not going to claim that it was in any way my favourite film as a child, I always considered it slightly girly as a child, but it has always and will always hold a fond place in my heart purely because of the amount of times I watched it. So when word of Oz The Great And Powerful reached my ears, I was quite looking forward to seeing a modern take on a classic tale.

For those of you who don't know much about the film it tells the tale of how a small time circus magician came to be the wizard of Oz. After having his hot air balloon caught in the middle of a tornado Oscar Diggs, played by James Franco, is transported away to the magical land of Oz where he gets caught up in a power struggle between three witches and is forced to try and save the day.

This film has come into a lot of stick, despite being a big hit at the box office, but I actually thought it was pretty good. It's not going to define a generation of Disney films, nor is it going to displace the 1939 classic in the hearts of fans, but I can almost guarantee that if you will enjoy this film. You could hate the story, the acting, the characters, but I defy anyone to hate the fantastic world of Oz that Disney have managed to create. The visuals are stunningly beautiful. The animation was flawless and you could really immerse yourself into this epic imaginary realm.

As good as the scenery was the show undoubtedly stolen by the little China Girl and Finley, a lovable monkey voiced by Zach Braff. Fantastically animated and voiced, these two characters were brilliant from start to finish. Maybe it's because I'm a massive Scrubs geek, but I thought that Braff was the perfect voice for such a funny and lovable character as Finley. Both he and the China girl were a breath of fresh air in a film littered with far too many average characters.

Unfortunately there are certain parts of this film that are remarkably unexceptional, not least the performance of Mila Kunis. She's awful. I like Mila Kunis, who wouldn't? She's beautiful, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable in everything I've seen her in before Oz The Great And Powerful. I can't quite work out why this went so badly for her, because although she usually plays the pretty looking girl the guy falls in love with I was convinced she had enough acting ability to break her stereotypical role and play a villain. Unfortunately I was wrong. It just didn't suit her. Even before she turned into the wicked witch we all know, her lines seemed forced and unconvincing. Then once she'd been caked in green make up and squeezed into the tightest witches costume you're likely to find in a Disney film things just went from bad to worse. She was truly rubbish. My main gripe aside from Mila Kunis was a character called Knuck, played by Tony Cox. Knuck was unfunny and a truly pointless character whom I found incredibly annoying throughout the film.The rest of the cast did their bit. James Franco was decent but unremarkable, as were the other two witches.

Overall the film was decent. The story was interesting, most of the acting wasn't too bad, and the special effects were absolutely brilliant. It was miles better than the likes of Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland (2010) remake, but it was miles short of The Wizard Of Oz. I think a more apt title would have been: Oz The Good But Slightly Disappointing. That said I would recommend it if you're looking for something easy going, nice to look at, and funny in places.