Culver City Observer -

Click your heels together and repeat. “There’s no place like Oz. There’s no place like Oz. There’s no place like Oz.” Then fly to your local movie theater and you’ll find yourself right in the middle of the merry old land of Oz quicker than you can say, “Wicked Witch of the West” - and all without the necessity of a tornado. Tapping into imagination and the literary world of L. Frank Baum, Sam Raimi and his own band of Ozian tinkers, tailors and painters bring us Disney’s OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL. Reawakening the child-like wonder within each of us with dazzling, breathtaking visuals, Peter Deming’s stunning cinematography, creative storytelling, Robert Stromberg’s eye-popping production design, gorgeous costumes and touchstones to a place “somewhere over the rainbow”, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL is guaranteed to earn its place in the annals of cinematic history as one of the most visually spectacular literary inspirations of our time.

We all know the 1939 MGM story of “The Wizard of Oz.” Itself based on the 14 book series of turn of the century “OZ” novels by L. Frank Baum (with some moviemaking license, of course), Dorothy gets caught in a twister, her house kills a wicked witch, she travels the Yellow Brick Road to meet the Wizard of Oz and along the way meets Munchkins, a Scarecrow, a Tin Man and a Cowardly Lion. BUT....what we don’t learn in either the 1939 movie or in the first Baum Book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is how the Wizard became the Wizard and how he came to Oz. And this is where OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL begins.

Oscar Diggs is your average early 20^th century carnie. Traveling the country in wagons and tents and makeshift stages with a band of somewhat ragtag sideshow performers, Diggs’ stock in trade is that of a “magician”, or perhaps more appropriately, a charlatan or con man, if you will. Amazing local folks with his slight of hand and rudimentary prestidigitation, he takes coins as payment for his trickery, and quite often more coins than are rightfully his share. While his cons often find him on the wrong end of a fist, causing him even bigger problems is his reputation as a ladies man. And it’s thanks to his eyes for a certain young lady who is spoken for by the sideshow strongman, that Diggs flees the carnival in a hot air balloon. Too bad he didn’t check the weather report though, for just as he takes off to escape an angry boyfriend, a tornado lands, sweeping Oscar and his bag of tricks into the twister and landing him, well, somewhere over the rainbow. Oscar’s not in Kansas anymore.

Peeking out of the balloon basket, Oscar is met with a world unlike any he’s ever seen. Vibrant color washes over and through him. Fantastical flora, fauna and fairies abound. The beauty is such to leave one breathless. And breathless Oscar is, especially when “rescued’ by the stunning and exotic raven-haired Theodora.

Theodora is a witch, along with her sisters, Evanora and Glinda. Their father was king of Oz and since his death, the sisters and Ozians across the land have awaited arrival of the prophesied wizard who will bring peace to the land and restore Oz to the grandeur it once knew under the King. (Seems sibling rivalry runs amok even in Oz.) Not one to turn down a promise of riches and glory, Oscar - now called The Wizard - goes along with the deception and heads off down the yellow brick to, you guessed it, the Emerald City. Joining him on his journey as his right hand man, is a flying monkey named Finley (the absolute BEST character in the movie), China Girl (whom he rescues as the sole survivor in China Town after an attack and repairs her with his “magic” glue), all sorts of Tinkers, Munchkins and Quadlings, and of course, the aid of Glinda the Good. But along the way, they face evil, destruction, horrific ferocious taloned flying baboons and yes, the green-skinned Wicked Witch.

James Franco easily slips into the persona of Oscar/Wizard. Finding a balance between the goodness of a kind and benevolent wizard and the slipperiness of a charlatan, Franco is a delight to watch; especially as the character himself undergoes a journey of self-discovery. Actually learning magic for the role, Franco’s slight of hand just adds another level of magical belief to the story and film as a whole.

Rachel Weisz, whose character of Evanora was essentially created from the ground up as she had no history in the Baum books, is delicious. Shimmering in emerald and black beading at every given moment of the film, Weisz oozes sexiness and emotionally, can turn on a dime be it as a doting loving sister or power hungry wicked monarch. And where there’s Evanora, there’s Theodora, a character that, unfortunately, Mila Kunis never sells. Kunis is the one mis-cast in this glorious production. Too controlled, too “frozen” and unemotional as Theodora, while we learn to understand her need to control her anger and emotion, the performance is just too cold and lacking.

Radiating goodness from start to finish is Michelle Williams. As Oscar’s love interest Annie in the opening Kansas sequence and then as Glinda in Oz, Williams is so pure and genuine that you actually feel kindness emanating from the screen. Soft-spoken and tender, ethereal in her movements and costuming, she may even make you forget Billie Burke’s magical 1939 performance.

Kudos to each of the four principals who did virtually all of their own stunt and “wire” work in the film, especially Kunis who found it “thrilling and fun!”

The real scene stealer, however, is Zach Braff. As Oscar’s assistant Frank, in the opening Kansas sequence, Braff then voices the fabulous flying monkey Finley. Serving as the Wizard’s conscience a la Jiminy Cricket, Braff brings Finley to life with emotion. With everything from fear to love, laughter and even deadpan sarcasm, Braff makes it impossible for you to not to love the character. But it’s more than voicing that steals the show, as the essence of Braff himself is captured in the design of Finley. Thanks to human animators who watched Braff’s performance (he had three cameras filming him whenever voicing and “acting out” Finley) and then animated Finley based on Braff, Finley is just as real and tangible as Franco’s Wizard or Williams’ Glinda.

13 year old Joey King is another standout. As the voice of China Girl, she is charming. A real treat is watching one of my faves, Bill Cobbs, as the Master Tinker. Cobbs always brings authority, patience, exasperation and fun to his performances and here is no different.

And what of the Wicked Witch??? While Sam Raimi openly admits, “I don’t like wicked witches! They scare me.” he also is quick to note, “I’m deliciously frightened by them!” And while we have the requisite Wicked Witch, just suffice it to say, the Wicked Witch in OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL falls short in design, performance and evil cackle of that by Margaret Hamilton’s 1939 witch. Were Hamilton’s performance not embedded and etched into the collective conscience of generations, the Wicked Witch here may be memorable and frightening, but sadly, this is one comparison that cannot be overlooked.

Written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, is created from core bits and pieces of the Baum books, but then illuminated and expounded upon with original story elements and characters, like Finley and Evanora. With battles between good and evil and journeys of self-discovery, Kapner and Lindsay-Abaire retain the charm and delight of the books while paying subtle homage to the 1939 movie, all the while drawing us in their own twister of wide-eyed wonder and magic. Dialogue is specific and in some cases, telling of surprises to come or designed to make the audience wonder.

But this is Sam Raimi’s ride and he was intent on making OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL run under its own steam and not serve as a “sequel” or piggyback the 1939 movie. According to Raimi, “We went to the Denslow illustrations, the original illustrations” for visual inspiration. “Baum’s descriptions was the first source of inspiration for the [film’s] look and Denslow’s illustrations were the second source of inspiration. I think the third was the old Disney animated frames. Robert Stromberg went back into them and looked at the landscape and the trees and the mountains. We were greatly influenced by that. And then I think the fourth source would be the original ‘Wizard of Oz’ movie.”

Shot digitally on the Red Epic, with the opening titles, Raimi treats us to a 1:33:1 aspect ratio - and in true black and white - the format used pre-1953 for films. But when the Oscar arrives in Oz awakening to a massive explosion of color and fantasy, Raimi stretches the aspect to a glorious 1:66-2:40 wide screen and expands the 3D, adding to the already visual treat. Hands down, the finest and most perfect 3D in film today, technology has advanced so that we don’t have the greying of the screen that up to now has been a consistent downside to 3D. Not one iota of light or color is compromised which just makes Peter Deming’s cinematography that much more sumptuous and spectacular! When you talk about the days of “glorious Technicolor” and get an image in your head, just known that the vibrant eye-popping kaleidoscope in OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL is even more saturated and alive. And while the color is spectacular, for me, the opening black and white sequence is one of the greatest stand-outs of the film. Deming’s cinematography and lighting play with white, black and grey starkness and shadows is as close to perfection as I’ve seen, not to mention interesting camera angles, something we see throughout the film.

Making OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL a rapturous viewing experience is Raimi’s insistence on actual sets. According to producer Joe Roth, “Sam wanted both the tactile version and the CG version. I thought it was incredibly helpful that they did that. You could come to those stages in Detroit and think there wasn’t going to be an CG in the film at all.” By building the actual sets, complete with vibrant color, depth of field and the elements of fantasy, Raimi’s team showed the level of creativity and skills of today’s artisans while upping the ante for the actors. As opined by Franco, be it from actual sets to even a China Girl marionette acting opposite him , “Every step that could be taken to make me feel like I have a real character that I’m acting opposite [in a real world] was done... For me one of the most valuable things about acting is the interaction of characters and that connection. They did everything they could to preserve that.”

In creating China Girl, Raimi called upon master puppeteer, Phillip Huber, who created the 21-stringed marionette so that she could perform in real time with the actors. For the CGI created Finley, to aid not only the human actors, but the actual lensing and camera angles, an exactly proportioned Finley puppet was created. With Zach Braff donning a blue leotard and operating the puppet while acting opposite the human actor, the scenes were shot and in post-production, puppet Finley was replaced with CG Finley with tail and ear movements added and enhanced. The end result is immersive and believable for the audience.

Robert Stromberg’s production is masterful, and along with Peter Deming, and costume designers Gary Jones and Michael Kutsche, should garner Oscar nominations. Created on seven soundstages, approximately 30 physical sets were built for, among others, Emerald City, Whimsie Woods, the Dark Forest, China Town, Munchkinland, the Yellow Brick Road and the Kansas carnival. Notable is the meticulous detail of each and particularly Kansas and Oscar Diggs’ wagon. Filled with objects of every kind, each one appears throughout the film, bookending everything with perfect story tie-ins. A large part of the visual appeal is the blend of architectural stylings and nevermoreso than with the Art Deco feel of the Emerald City. Reminiscent of a Tim Burton “Gotham City”, the design has a harder edge to it on the outside while lush and richly toned within. Every aspect of production design is stunning, much of which harkens back to those original Denslow drawings as well as paying “subtle homage” to the 1939 movie classic.

When it comes to costuming, Gary Jones and Michael Kutsche went above and beyond. Designing over 2000 individual costumes, but for the Winkie Guards, no costume is duplicated in style or fabrication. And as for the gowns of Evanora, Theodora and Glinda - breathtaking.

Visual special effects also soar. Standouts include Glinda’s travel bubbles which are no longer hard and rigid and perfectly round, but pliable and rubbery with a pearlized iridescence making them look like soap bubbles floating in air. And watch out for the most glorious light displays since Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi or the Emperor and Yoda did battle in “Revenge of the Sith”. Electrifying!

Adding that final touch of magic is not only a score by Danny Elfman but, yes, a Munchkin song.

Yep. It’s true. There’s no place like Oz. We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz...OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL.

Directed by Sam Raimi

Written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire based on the L. Frank Baum novel, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

Cast: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Zach Braff and Joey King