I love L Frank Baum, and this movie captured his spirit. It is his spirit and wit that made the Oz series so popular.
Instead of starting with a little girl from Kansas, this movie starts with a con-man magician from Kansas. He escapes an upset husband of a woman he had been pursuing. The pursuer happens to be the strong-man of the carnival. He escapes in a balloon, which happens to go into a tornado, and he is whisked off to Oz.
The director, like in the ‘Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, has used black and white until this point, and then we enter a colorful world. This world is controlled by three governing witches, one good, one bad and one we are not so sure. However it takes some time to determine which, witch, is which. (I like that.)
The theme of the show is repeated several times by the wizard, “You can do anything if you believe.” However the wizard doesn’t really believe this of himself. It isn’t until faced with an impossible crisis that he actually begins to believe in himself. When he releases his own skills, slight of hand, creativity, use of the moving camera, etc that he truly begins to become a wizard, although a humbug wizard at that.
This movie has fantastic characters. James Franco portrays Oz, and Michelle Williams Glinda. We also meet Theodora (Mila Kunis), who is not yet the evil which she eventually becomes. Evanora (Rachel Weisz) is already evil and deceitful. Oz surrounds himself with the "China Girl" (Joey King) and Finley (Zach Braff), a flying monkey. We also meet the munchkins, who can't fight, but are very good singers. The Tinkers, who can build anything.
I recommend this movie highly. I think it is fun. Sheri and Caleb both had issues with special effects surrounding the China Girl. I didn't have any problems. I thought this character was one of the most intriguing, delicate but tough at the same time. Many characters have dual roles as in "Wonderful Wizard of Oz".
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