Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Great (or Terrible?) 3D Oz


Oh, how I wanted to love this movie. And oh how it disappointed me.

I've been trying to put my finger on why and here are a few thoughts:

1) This is a movie that used 3D in the worst kind of way. I love how movies over the past few years (notably Hugo, Pina, Avatar) used 3D to put you in the scene with the characters (or with the dancers in the case of Pina). And how they used the technology to make the world seem more real. Awesome.
But this movie uses it to make things come out of the screen toward the audience. In that respect it reminded me of all the really bad 3D movies from the past. Or Joe Flaherty in a vampire costume moving his face toward the camera in old SCTV sketches.



Fast fwd to about the 2 minute mark to get the first example of what I'm talking about. These old sketches were hilarious. But long... Oh, 1970's Canadian TV.
Back to Oz:  It felt as if the action sequences were planned with the central question being: How can we maximize the number of objects that shoot out into the audience's faces? Rather than: How can we make this scene exciting and further the plot?

2) The film felt really juvenile. Now, I get that people probably want to take their kids to this movie. But really little kids will be terrified. Big, scary-toothed flying gorillas coming out at you from the screen... (And I thought there could be nothing scarier than flying monkeys...) And yet the tone and dialogue and character development felt like it was aimed at 5 year olds. Or 4 year olds. I've seen movies aimed at 5 year olds which entertained me more than this did...


3) They had too many character arcs. I feel like the witches' stories got badly short changed. I get that it was a story about how the wizard of Oz ended up in Oz... but they why try to tell the wicked witch creation story at the same time? It just didn't work. Now that I'm typing this, I realize there have been tons of films where the writers successfully told both a hero and villain creation story in one (just about any comic book movie, for example) but this one did not succeed. Maybe because they spent too much time trying to be cute. Or giving us winks to things. Don't know. But the transformation of the Mila Kunis character from good to evil seemed like an incredible wasted opportunity. And I'd have loved to know more about the Rachel Weisz character too. And the politics of the good vs wicked sides of the witch world... And why witches are in charge in Oz etc. etc. So many interesting things, unexplored.

4) I've decided James Franco can't act. This might be heresy, but it's how I feel at the moment. I remember seeing him in that James Dean biopic years ago and being blown away. And the critics and everyone from that point on seemed to take it as fact that he was the next coming... But looking back on his filmology, I think he's annoyed me as many times as I've been impressed. It's like squinting and talking through his teeth, which worked for Dean, is the main tool in his actor's chest. Now... I did love him in 127 Hours... And I do admit that the Oscar hosting gig, when he acted like he was so above it all, might have turned me against him. But it does say something that I reached this, "Huh, Franco can't act," conclusion in the middle of watching Oz. I almost felt like he thought the entire movie was a big goof. Like I was watching Franco on SNL or something, doing a spoof on an Oz prequel, rather than watching him as a character in a movie.

5) Bad romance. Wow. I just thought of this while composing this post. But it was another big problem. First, they start to develop a romance with the Mila Kunis character. And we start to care about her and them. And see problems on the horizon for their relationship because clearly she's more invested in him than he is in her (which fits his philandering character to this point). So those of us who like romance subplots are rubbing our hands together thinking, this could get interesting! And then we're yanked out of that romance subplot. And another witch is tossed in his path. And for no reason other than they're on the same side in a fight, and she looks like a girl he tossed aside back in Kansas, (and she's blonde?) we're supposed to believe he's going to fall in love with her. And her with him. Insta-love. Does not work.

So, in spite of all the above, I actually didn't HATE this movie. And I thought some things were really cool. (like the way they eventually create the Oz illusion.) But overall, I was disappointed.

Has anyone else seen it?

Feel free to disagree. :)

5 comments:

Kwana said...

I had a feeling from the commercial that this would be the outcome from the movie and I think a lot of it is the direction or the filming. I had no desire to see it. It just doesn't feel exciting or magical to me. Alas my family still wants to see it so maybe I will. Thanks for the review.

Stephanie Doyle said...

I haven't seen it and won't and that's totally because of Franco. As my mother would say... "He can't act his way out of a paper bag."

I will never know why he continues to get parts. I find him wholly unbelievable. And his hosting of the Oscars to me was just a way to say... look. I really don't have any talent.

Maureen McGowan said...

Kwana, maybe now that I've lowered your expectations, you'll love it. I went in with high expectations...

Steph, if you don't like Franco, you really won't like this...

Eileen said...

My kids are old enough that I'm guessing the only way they'll want to see it is in an, um, altered state and definitely NOT with their mother.

I loved all the Oz books when I was a little girl. I think there's lots in there to make movies with, but the commercials really did make me think it was going to be all about the visuals. I sort of felt the same way about the Alice in Wonderland thing. I didn't really need to see Johnny Depp dressed up weird and acting goofy. I certainly don't need to see James Franco doing it either.

Anonymous said...

I do think Franco has outworn his welcome... and I don't care enough to go see this movie...

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...