Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

A small-time magician is swept away to an enchanted land and is forced into a power struggle between three witches.

Director:

Sam Raimi

Writers:

Mitchell Kapner (screenplay), David Lindsay-Abaire (screenplay),

Stars:

James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Franco	...	Oz
Mila Kunis	...	Theodora
Rachel Weisz	...	Evanora
Michelle Williams	...	Annie / Glinda
Zach Braff	...	Frank / Finley
Bill Cobbs	...	Master Tinker
Joey King	...	Girl in Wheelchair / China Girl
Tony Cox	...	Knuck
Stephen R. Hart	...	Winkie General
Abigail Spencer	...	May
Bruce Campbell	...	Winkie Gate Keeper
Ted Raimi	...	Skeptic in Audience
Tim Holmes	...	Strongman
Toni Wynne	...	Strong Man's Wife
Rob Crites	...	Firebreather

Storyline

Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz. At first he thinks he's hit the jackpot-fame and fortune are his for the taking. That all changes, however, when he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity-and even a bit of wizardry-Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

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Plot Keywords:

magician | wizard | kansas | illusion | circus | 

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Taglines:

In Oz, nothing is what it seems

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sequences of action and scary images, and brief mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 March 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le monde fantastique d'Oz

Filming Locations:

Michigan Motion Picture Studios, 1999 Centerpoint Parkway, Pontiac, Michigan USA

Box Office

Budget:

$215,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$79,110,453 (USA) (8 March 2013)

Gross:

$230,260,553 (USA) (10 May 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Roth Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Blake Lively was offered the role of Glinda, but chose to do Oliver Stone's Savages instead.

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Goofs

Throughout the movie, the facial hair thickness of the Oz was not as it was at the beginning shots of the movie. The thickness of the hair slightly changed between short to shorter, then back to normal.

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Quotes

[Evanora tries to flee]
Glinda: Not so fast! You and I aren't finished here.
Evanora: You have the throne, Glinda. What more could you want?
Glinda: You can't give me that. You took what mattered most from me: my father.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are seen in a 1930s nickelodeon, with certain credits having their own qualities:

• James Franco's credit appears in a puff of smoke
• Mila Kunis's credit appears alongside a couple dancing (whose shadow turns into that of the Wicked Witch)
• Rachel Weisz's credit is held by monkeys
• Michelle Williams's credit is contained within a bubble
• Zach Braff's credit appears with a puppet of Finley
• the make-up credits Gregory Nicotero and Howard Bergman are seen with an eye mask
• VFX supervisor Scott Stokdyk's credit is seen within an optical illusion
• composer Danny Elfman's credit is seen with a trumpet
• the costume designers' credits are seen fitting clothes on an elephant
• production designer Robert Stromberg's credit is seen in China Town
• cinematographer Peter Deming's credit is seen with the projector
• the screenwriters' credit is seen within a tornado
• and director Sam Raimi's credit is seen within a crystal ball.

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Connections

Followed by Oz the Great and Powerful 2

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Soundtracks

"Almost Home"
Performed by Mariah Carey
Written by Simone Porter, Justin Gray, Lindsey Ray, T.E. Hermansen (as Tor Erik Hermansen), Mikkel S. Eriksen (as Mikkel Eriksen) and Mariah Carey
Produced by Mariah Carey, T.E. Hermansen (as Stargate) and Mikkel S. Eriksen (as Stargate) for 45th & 3rd Music LLC
Mariah Carey appears Courtesy of Island Def Jam Music Group/Universal Music Group

User Reviews

Beautiful yet vapid prequel.

Beautiful yet vapid prequel to "The Wizard Of Oz" that is plague by not only by the numbers script but the questionable judgment of the people behind the scenes of the making of the film. The CGI effects are good and the characters created by those effects are cute but they are not strong enough to hide the films real problems. The script is so by the numbers that you can envision the twist and the ending five minutes into the film. Prequels are generally predicable because it set before the events of a prior movie but this film just did not have any originality to it and was just lazy in its set up. The script is not the only problem here; some of the casting is also off by a large margin as well. James Franco was not the first actor to be considered to play the character of Oscar Diggs but you can see a hundred better actors who could have done the role justice before you can ever think of Franco in the role and he does not disappoint in proving how miscast he is. Franco is terrible, so terrible that he is distracting to the film. He definitely does not care about his performance and it shows. Franco just swaggers in as if he is above the material and the actors around him while in reality, his performance is worse that the script of this film. Making his character so unlikable that you really do not want to watch or care about him. While Franco is in his own little world, Mila Kunis just looks lost in her performance. She is not believable as the wicked witch of the west and just comes across as lightweight compare to her sisters played by Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams who are both much better actors than this film deserved. Weisz in particular gives the film's best performance because she at least makes an effort with the lazy script she has to work with and just has fun with it. Her character is the typical Disney villain but in Weisz's capable hands, she becomes more and that does translate on screen. You as an audience member are swept off your feet by Weisz's enthusiasm for her role and the movie becomes better off because of it. Williams does the same, making her sweet tooth character a joy to watch as well and brings a real sincerity to the role which is a god sent because of how insincere Franco is in his.

It is a beautiful movie and the CGI does not give you a headache but other those things and the efforts of Weisz and Williams, The movie has too many strikes against it thanks to the script and the miscasting of Franco and Kunis.