by George Wolf
OZ, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL
It takes some guts to follow up Victor Fleming’s 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz. A classic in so many ways – from its astonishing visual storytelling to its iconic characters to its oft-belted songbook – the film remains among the most beloved in American moviedom. More importantly, it introduced perhaps the greatest villain in cinematic history, the awe-inspiring Wicked Witch of the West.
Director Sam Raimi sets out to prove he’s up to the challenge with Oz: The Great and Powerful, a prequel to the classic that details the wizard’s earliest escapades in Oz.
Beginning and ending with nice pop-up book inspired credits, Raimi’s film boasts a hokey visual charm appropriate for its vaudeville-esque hero. Raimi employs state of the art technology to wow audiences in the way the then-brand-spanking new Technicolor caused jaws to drop in ’39, polishing his cutting edge visuals with an enjoyably retro quality.
Oz also mimics its predecessor’s format: opening in black and white Kansas, introducing characters that will feel oh-so-familiar once we’re in the topsy turvy land of Oz, before landing in the hyper-saturated color and 3D majesty of fantasy.
No songs, though.
Still, it’s not just the visual element that made the original a classic, and 2013 audiences are pretty used to being wowed visually. What else has Raimi got?
A pretty impressive cast, actually, though few feel right for their characters. Oscar winners and nominees mix with established character actors to populate the overripe landscape, but most of them are filling some pretty big shoes.
A likeable James Franco keeps you interested, but he lacks any real sense of showmanship or seediness as the morally conflicted Oz, carnival shyster turned powerful wizard.
The always wonderful Rachel Weisz comes off best as the intriguing enchantress Evanora. The also extravagantly talented Michelle Williams really struggles, however. She tries to keep Glinda’s spirit intact without becoming too restricted by Billie Burke’s originating (let’s be honest, annoyingly sugary) performance. I’m not sure she succeeds.
Mila Kunis, also stumbles a bit in reinventing the Wicked Witch. Again, it is a mighty big hat to fill, but it makes you wonder if having Kunis and Weisz switch roles would have been a smarter move.
But Raimi gets points for the sheer joy in his storytelling and his effort’s obvious love for both its predecessor and the work of writer L. Frank Baum.
The vividly animated adventure offers enough energy and entertainment to shake off these snowy March weekend blahs. It will hardly stand the test of time the way the original has, but it’s a fun way to waste a couple hours right now.
3 stars (out of 5)
EMPEROR
After great films such as Lincoln, Argo and Zero Dark Thirty last year, 2013 has big shoes to fill in the historical drama department.
Emperor, despite the best of intentions, is not a good fit.
Based on the book His Majesty’s Salvation by Shiro Okamoto, the film is set at the end of World War II. Japan has surrendered, and U.S. Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur has mere days to advise the President on the fate of Japanese Emperor Hirohito.
MacArthur assigns General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) to conduct a quick investigation into whether or not Hirohito should be considered a war criminal, and then in all likelihood, executed.
The story is built around Fellers and his mission, relegating the iconic MacArthur to supporting status. Casting the legendary Jones as MacArthur makes sense, but it only adds to the pressure on the actor portraying Fellers. He must not overshadow the Supreme Commander, yet still craft his own character finely enough to hold your interest.
Neither Fox, nor the script he’s working with, get it done.
While we follow Fellers on his quest to decipher just who deserves blame for leading Japan to attack Pearl Harbor, we end up wondering what MacArthur is up to. It doesn’t help that screenwriters Vera Blasi and David Klass insert flashbacks to a romance between Fellers and a young Japanese woman he met during his college years.
The romance is meant to give you a deeper understanding of Fellers, but it’s so tepid and by-the –numbers it ends up feeling totally unnecessary, a point which is driven home by how quickly MacArthur brushes it off when he learns of Fellers’s possible conflict of interest.
Maybe the most curious aspect of Emperor is that it comes from director Peter Webber, who so artfully crafted 2003’s The Girl with the Pearl Earring. That film emerged as a beautiful period piece, but much of Emperor just doesn’t pass the eye test. From the sets to the clothes, it often looks cold and esoteric, further hampering any emotional connection.
The historical films of last year proved that even though endings may be well-known, great storytelling and inspired performances can result in renewed suspense and emotion.
Emperor just doesn’t have the horses.
2 stars (out of 5)