Trailer Tuesday - Oz: The Great and Powerful

-


For a while now, Hollywood has been obsessed with dishing out explanations: Why did Michael Myers become a masked maniac pursuing his own sister? Where did the Wicked Queen come from and what's the source of her power? How did Charles Xavier end up in a wheelchair?  What's up with the xenomorph and mysterious Space Jockey? Soon, whether we care or not, we'll also bear witness to how Mrs Bates warped Norman's psyche, why Malificent is such a bitch to Sleeping Beauty (my post on the matter), what exactly happened at the Overlook Hotel... and how a dodgy carnival magician from the American Midwest ended up as the all-powerful Wizard of Oz.


Coming from Evil Dead and Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, Oz: The Great and Powerful is yet another in a string of big budget reboots, reimaginings, spin-offs and prequels. Former Raimi collaborator James Franco replaces first choice Robert Downey, Jr. as the title character: an ambitious but ethically challenged man by the name of Oscar Zoroaster Diggs who finds himself stranded in the magical realm of Oz. Identified as the Chosen One *yawn*, our instant celebrity finds himself torn between 3 omnipotent witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Glinda (Michelle Williams) and Evanora (Rachel Weisz).

Coming from Walt Disney Pictures and the producer of Tim Burton's live-action Alice in Wonderland, it's pretty obvious from the first trailer (which debuted at this year's San Diego Comic-Con) that Oz is intended to duplicate the massive success of that particular CGI-saturated fantasy adventure. The plot of this "untold story" is nothing to write home about - and it doesn't even take much research to work out which of the 3 sorceresses ends up green skinned by the credits. However, on the plus side, evidently we're going to be treated to stunning, vibrant visuals along with some real fidelity to L. Frank Baum's literary universe. The China woman is a nice little touch that will be recognisable to fans of the books. 

In all honesty, Raimi could be a better fit for this kind of material than Burton, given the latter's gothic sensibilities. Alice felt strained in its attempt to be quirky, whereas Raimi has always embraced colour and cartoonish, broad humour. This may alienate viewers who prefer dark, serious entertainment but at the same time it's likely to please families with young children. And judging by the several moments of gimmicky 3D wackiness in the trailer (yes, the film has been shot for 3D!) it's this kind of broad appeal that the film is going for.

Oz: The Great and Powerful releases in North America on 8 March 2013. The film's South African release date is still unset, but expect it around the same time - as we come out of the post-holidays dumping period for mediocre cinema curiosities.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is the rebooted Lara Croft gay? Evidence for and against...

-
Image
As some of you know, I’ve been fangirling hard over the new Tomb Raider , the first entry in the video game series since 2008, and ostensibly a reboot for the entire franchise . Taking the form of an origin story, Tomb Raider 2013 depicts the events that transformed a beautiful, if bookish, archaeology graduate into a pistol-packing adventurer with a devil-may-care attitude. We meet Lara Croft as a pretty, fairly ordinary 21 year old, brooding over her work notes, listening to her mp3 player and very much confined to the shadow of her male mentors. By the end of the game, however, she’s taken charge – she’s had to! – and, battered, bruised and bloody, she’s both a survivor and hero, right down to rescuing the princess and carrying her away in her arms. Yeah, this is probably the best point to mention that there will be some Tomb Raider 2013 spoilers in this post, so read ahead with caution. Anyway, I loved the game. Technically it’s near faultless, it looks beautiful, the ov
Read more

Weekend report-back: beach, board games and books

-
Image
So I'm back in the office after a 4 day weekend. And I'm trying not to remind myself that it's almost 3 months until the next public holiday. Bah! Anyway, pop culture didn't play too massive a part in my mini-break. There was braai -ing (expected on National Braai Day), the baking of pretzels in celebration of Oktoberfest ( even if we weren't in Munich this year ), working on the next Girlz 'N' Games comic , and a family lunch to celebrate my mother and cousin's birthdays. A hefty chunk of the weekend however was spent at one of my favourite holiday destinations: the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. We were celebrating a friend's birthday at his family's holiday flat in Southbroom. So there was much chilling and eating and games playing, as well as kite flying, dolphin spotting and swallowing of saltwater as I flailed around in the choppy, chilly surf. We even managed to find Emo Shell! Anyway, film viewing was neglected this weekend, with the excepti
Read more

Movies today, SA!

-
Image
Despite the fact that 5 new films open in South Africa today, not a single one is worthy of an extended Pick of the Week description. If you haven't seen it yet (like me), go and watch Disney-Pixar's Up instead. If you can't get past a deeply ingrained "grown-up" prejudice against animated films, what about seeking out the Johnny Depp-Christian Bale gangster movie Public Enemies ? Hell, you could even go and watch District 9 again. Just stay away from the mediocrity released this weekend. Yeesh. I Hate Valentine's Day - Nia Vardalos reteams with her My Big Fat Greek Wedding love interest John Corbett for this romantic comedy in which a carefree florist lives by a "5 dates only" rule so a relationship never develops and she never gets hurt. A charming restaurateur, however, forces her to re-evaluate her unusual approach to dating. 17% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes . Karate Kallie - A South African comedy about Kallie, a fat teenager, who is mercilessly
Read more