[5]

It takes a while for Sam Raimi's Wizard of Oz prequel to pull its shit together and make you care a little about what's happening, but the final act's (digital) pyrotechnics and displays of combative sorcery help pull the movie just barely into the safe zone. The casting leaves something to be desired. James Franco, whom I normally like, is surprisingly bland in a role where he desperately needs to carry the film. He gets better as the film goes, finally reaching his stride as Oz the Great and Powerful makes his thundering debut to the citizens of the Emerald City.

Rachel Weisz is easily the most inspired casting choice, playing one of the film’s three witches. Michelle Williams does an admirable job as Glinda the Good Witch, but then there’s Mila Kunis as the third witch. While she’s not terrible, I’m not convinced ten or twenty other women couldn’t have delivered a more compelling performance. And when the Wicked Witch of the West finally appears on-screen, the makeup job leaves something to be desired.

The film is scant on dramatic heft, but you’ll find some revelatory high points in the three witches. The production design is a huge, missed opportunity — I feel like I’ve seen this Oz before… several times really. I mean, if you have to suffocate me in digital imagery, can it least be interesting and original? And is it me, or is digital imagery getting uglier and uglier every year? It’s supposed to the magical land of Oz, but after two hours and change in Raimi’s oppressively cold and calculated digital neverworld, it was almost a relief to see the theatre parking lot again.