Oz the Great and Powerful

Sorry for the late review of the new Sam Raimi version of the L. Frank Baum stories - but I've been trying to wrap up the animation for CHEATIN'. 

I saw "Oz" last week and I loved the intro, where James Franco plays a philandering road-show magician.  Then it goes into the colorful world of Oz, and it kind of loses its charm.  The characters are very badly designed, especially the monkey.

And the story, which is sort of a prequel to the famous Judy Garland version, takes a while to build up momentum.  Mila Kunis is great as one of the witches (I won't say which witch) but then they slap a bunch of cheap prosthetics on her face, and all her charm is gone.

But the worst part is the casting of James Franco as Oscar Diggs (Oz).  He's a wonderful actor when playing beefcake characters, but this role demands buckets of charm and personality.  They should have used a more famous actor, like Robert Downey Jr. or John Cusack, but not a pretty boy.

My enthusiasm returned at the final, climactic battle.  I loved the projected image on the bonfire, that was a lot of fun - but to me, the film could have used more whimsy and humor.

I give "Oz the Great and Powerful" a B-.