Rating of
1.5/4
Great? Not so much..
theCriticalMarisa - wrote on 07/19/13
Everything the Wizard of Oz IS, this movie ISN'T. There's no magic and whimsy. The actors try very hard to fake innocence and to have a whimsical air about them and just come off very fake and wooden. The casting was horrible. James Franco is not a leading man. He has absolutely no charisma. And when you're playing a philandering magician, you need charisma. I didn't see a wizard or a character. I saw James Franco in a funny suit, acting like an idiot. Mila Kunis was laughable. Michelle Williams was a dufas. What happened?? Rachel Weisz was ok. The best characters were the minor ones, like China Doll and Finley and guess what? They're animated!
The only real points I can give this movie are for style. It's very visually striking, but even the effects fail sometimes. There are scenes that take your breath away, yet there are also scenes that look like they were working with the budget of the 1939 film.
And good God is it long! I could not wait for this thing to be over, but it just dragged on and on and on..
Bottom line, this movie never grabbed me. It never created a magical feeling of Oz and was far from great or powerful.
