♣ Oz the Great and Powerful: James Franco might just be the wizard that we need

So I went to see this movie expecting some deeper story underneath all the CG fest. I mean, this same director once brought us "Spider-Man 2", which was, like, the most character-development-packed superhero movie of all time! Compared to other Raimi's blockbusters, "Oz" is easily the weakest. (Yes, even "Spider-Man 3" is still a better movie, in terms of "heart". That's what people usually say, right? I mean, how does a movie have a heart, I don't even know what that means. But I guess you know it when you feel it.) Maybe it's just me wishing this could be the next Lord of the Ring. It is a Disney movie. It NEEDS to be kid-friendly anyhow. But Sam, with Spider-Man you... it's just... I can't even......

(long pause)

Okay. Moving on to the better bits.

VERY cool title sequence! I wish every movie would have taken a better care of their opening sequence.

For a fan of Sam Raimi, it is quite a satisfying Raimi movie. It reeks of Raimi's signature all over it. Fast camera movement, dutch angle, moving object's POV, Ted Raimi, Bruce Campbell, ugly witch, cheesy lines, you name it. Hail to the wizard, baby. (Sorry, wrong movie.)

James Franco was good. Somehow he managed to be this very bad egotistical person who, no matter how wrong the things he's done, you would still find him charming. Imagine with a wrong choice of actor portraying Oz, he might have come off as a douche with no redeeming quality whatsoever. But Franco, right after the moment he told Annie (Michelle William's character back in Kansas before she starts traveling inside a bubble) he "don't want to be a good man", instead he "want to be a great one", it's that moment when he virtually took us by the hand to join him into his quest of becoming a great man. Suddenly we could relate to him, and we wanted him to succeed. No? It's just me? Well. Looks like the majority loathe his performance. I don't understand. It seems like people in Hollywood just generally hate Franco. Poor little creature, what has he done?

The actual "poor little creature" in the movie, though, is Finley the Flying Monkey. Voiced brilliantly by Zach Braff, the interaction between Franco and him, and also later with the China Girl (voiced not less brilliantly by Joey King) is the BEST thing about the movie. They were sweet and hilarious from start to finish. I still cannot get it out of my mind, how Finley adorably felt offended by Oz's comment on his fondness for banana. Of course Finley likes banana, he's a monkey, don't be ridiculous, Oz!

The rest of the characters, sadly, I couldn't care less. I mean, how Evanora is plain evil and Theodora is plain naive (I initially intended to use the word "stupid" here), while Glinda is plain good (Michelle William is lovely, though). Every scene involving the witches but not Franco fell through or simply didn't hold my interest. And how wrong is that? WRONG. Very wrong. It's wrong to not care about the witches of Oz in an Oz movie. While it's safe to say that all this problem is due to the witches' characters being underdeveloped, I also dare to say that it's due to the fact that it is Franco who literally carries the movie on his shoulder with his charismatic persona. (There I just praised Franco again.)

But don't worry. Forget the bad things I said wrote. Forget this whole post, even, and go see the movie with an open mind and enjoy it with the wonderment of your 9-years-old self. It's a fun family movie with a lighthearted story, full of stunning and visually breathtaking imagery you have never seen, and witches with pretty dresses!