Oh, hey, a new review! Sorry for the lack of them in the past few weeks. I’ve been pretty busy and haven’t been reading or watching movies. Which is totally lame, I know.

Anyway, I finally was able to see Oz The Great and Powerful over the weekend, which made me extremely happy because there were several fairy tale movies that came out in the past few months, none of which I had time to see (but will definitely watch a soon as they come out on DVD).

I’ve heard mixed reviews about this movie. I’ve heard that it was well done and I’ve heard that there have been complaints about Hollywood taking a story with a strong leading lady and making it more about the man. Those people obviously don’t realize that this is a prequel to the Wizard of Oz story.

Oz the Great and Powerful follows a carnival magician named Oz (James Franco) who, while on the run in a hot air balloon from a crowd displeased with his lady killer ways, flies into a tornado and is transported to the magical land of Oz. Immediately found by Theodora the good (Mila Kunis), he is brought to the Emerald City being hailed as the great wizard they have been waiting for and introduced to Evanora (Rachel Weisz). Learning about a gold reward involved and a kingdom to rule, Oz plays along, keeping secret that he’s just a carnival magician and not really a wizard.

When sent to kill the wicked witch, Glinda (Michelle Williams), Oz finds out the truth about the prophecy and whose side he should really be on, creating a few enemies and breaking a few hearts in the process.

I thought it was a really interesting take on how the wizard of Oz came to Oz. The ending left it where The Wizard of Oz would pick up, so I imagine there may be another Wizard of Oz movie possibly in the works.

If you haven’t had the chance to go see this movie yet and enjoy 3D films, you should probably consider seeing it in 3D. I don’t like 3D movies that much so I saw it in regular 2D, but even while watching it I could see where there would be advantages to seeing it in 3D. It’s also a great family movie. While it is generated for kids, there are jokes and instances that will go over the kids heads, but that older viewers will understand.

The only problem I had with the movie overall was some parts looked very CGI and I thought it was a bit fast paced, but at the same time it would probably lose the viewers’ attentions if it was drawn out.

Grade: A