Oz: The Great And Powerful (2013)

In 1905 Kansas, a magician and con man (James Franco) in a traveling circus is sucked into a tornado while in a hot air balloon. He finds himself in the strange land of Oz where he is mistaken for a wizard foretold in a prophecy. He must also contend with three beautiful witches: Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams). A prequel to the beloved MGM THE WIZARD OF OZ and also based on the writings of L. Frank Baum, this bloated fantasy is an uneven gift. Franco never quite gets hold of the role, possibly because of miscasting, the part cries out for a young Gene Wilder. The opening Kansas sequence is shot in B&W in the old 1.33 Academy aspect ratio and when Franco finds himself in Oz, the film opens up to 2.35 wide screen in vivid colors. This is probably the most impressive sequence in the film. But every time the film starts to bog down, director Sam Raimi seems to whip up another bit of exciting business. But it lacks the genuine magic of the 1939 film. I'm not a fan of excessive CGI work because it almost always looks unreal but in this case, the CGI is most effective precisely because it does look unreal, giving the film the storybook look of the 1939 film which didn't look "real" either. I was sporadically entertained. With Zach Braff and Joey King.