So, yeah. I haven’t posted in a long time. My mom said that she’d have to cut my computer time until my grades came up. So, don’t shoot the messenger. Well, I saw this movie on Saturday, and I’m only now getting to write about it. Considering that this movie has tried basically to copy the success of Alice In Wonderland, (which you can learn more about here) it only makes sense that both movies would receive mixed reviews. I actually enjoyed Alice In Wonderland, actually getting in to the story that many bashed and believing that the world it took place in was really a post-apocolyptic wonderland. When comparing the two movies there are some things that Alice did better and other things that Oz did better. But which is the better movie? Let’s find out.

Oscar Diggs (James Franco) is a stage magician who leaves Kansas trying to escape an angry strong man. But Oscar is transported to the Marvelous Land of Oz, where he meets witches Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams). The denizens of Oz all proclaim Oscar as a great wizard, but in order for that to happen, he has to defeat the Wicked Witch, going on an expedition along with some new friends.

So what works with the movie? For one, we have the imagery. My dad did go on a bit of a rant about how it was all done with computers, but if you look at Alice, that movie has literally EVERYTHING done on greenscreen. At least this movie has some actual sets, and they aren’t as poorly lit as they are in Alice. However, the story is lacking, making it confusing at certain moments which side each of the three witches are on. There are also a few plot holes, leading me to believe that the script could have used a few rewrites. The acting from the main principles is okay, but there really isn’t anything spectacular about it. I did enjoy the opening Kansas scenes, as I thought they did a good job of setting up the story. But aside from a few key moments, this didn’t really feel like Oz. I don’t know what it was, but this movie failed to wow me as Alice did. I do feel the need to bring up the Wicked Witch makeup that we see later on. It looks okay, but I feel that they could have done it Ledger style and totally reinvented this character. But hey, we have Malifecent coming later this year, so I can hardly complain.

Now, I didn’t see the movie in 3D, and that’s a shame giving some of what I heard about the film. For whatever reason, I enjoyed the film. Maybe it’s just me being naive. I guess that you can probably decide whether or not you would like this film. It’s a good film, but the one thing that stands out is one particular supporting character. And now. I would like to turn off my masculinity for just one moment. CHINA GIRL CHINA GIRL I LOVE THE CHINA GIRL I WANT TO TAKE HER HOME WITH ME SHE’S SO CUTE! Sorry about that.

***1/2