Clayton vs. Oz: the Great and Powerful

Hey guys, Clayton here and it's time for a recent movie review. Let's start with some backstory first; in the year 1900, author L. Frank Baum published the book "the Wonderful Wizard of Oz", the story of a young girl named Dorothy who gets wisked away by a tornado to the land of Oz where she journeys to see the Wizard of the land with her friends to return home. The book was widely praised and inspired other fantasy writers. Baum also wrote 13 more books based on the land of Oz, such as "Marvelous Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz", and the book is also subject to the 1939 classic starring Judy Garland, in which most of us saw as children and still loved to this day. At some point, Disney tried to make an Oz movie with an unoffical sequel released in 1985 called "Return to Oz", which was much faithful to the book and is much darker than the classic 1939 movie, but the movie bombed big time at the box office and critics were mixed or hated. And now it's 2013 and Disney is going to try once again and this time they hired "Evil Dead" and "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi to helm the project. And now, it's time to review the movie, "Oz: the Great and Powerful". The plot of the movie is that tells the origin of how the Wizard of Oz became...well, the Wizard of Oz and also, how the Witches came to be. Now, some of you know that this movie is my number 4 most anticipated movie of 2013 and did it live up to my expectations? The answer is yes. Not only is this pretty darn good, it's actually one of the best prequels since "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom".

What I like in the movie:
One of the things I enjoyed of the movie is the wide cast of characters, James Franco as Oscar Diggs, aka Oz, was really believeable in his role, Zach Braff (of Scrubs fame) was really enjoyable and funny as the monkey sidekick Finley, and the one that steals the show was Joey King as the Little China Girl, this character's backstory is very tragic and actually made me shed a tear a bit, plus, the character is enjoyable and fun. Also, a little note, one of my favorite actors, Bruce Campbell, makes a very short yet very funny cameo near the climax. Next, the visuals and effects are very astounding and beautiful bringing us back to that classic world of Oz. I also love the transition from black and white 4:3 aspect ratio in the beginning and to beautiful Technicolor and widescreen throughout te rest of the movie. Plus, I love the idea of the origins of Thedora aka the Wicked Witch of the West played by the incredibly talented and sexy Mila Kunis. And finally, I love some of the clever nods to the future Oz characters such as the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow.

What I didn't like in the movie:
If there's one thing to complain about the movie is of the characters of the Witches of Oz, now don't get me wrong, the actresses (Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz) do an alright job, but their characters aren't really that developed with the exception of Thedora.

Final thoughts:
"Oz: the Great and Powerful" is acually, well, great. The story is very relateable and very touching, some characters get very good development, the actors are hit and miss, and the visuals and effects are beautiful. If you love the classic 1939 movie and the books, give this movie a view and prepare to return to the land of Oz.

Rating: A high recommendation; go see it!

Stay tuned next time, where I ask fellow friends and even reviewers what is the Worst Movies they have ever seen in their lives. Plus, Superfail Month will come soon, I'm sorry it hasn't came yet, I've been getting lazy. I'm Clayton and prepare for Hollywood to pay the price we HAD to pay.