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| Hi, I'm Mr. Creepy! |
As a homage to
The Wizard of Oz from 1939,
Oz the Great and Powerful looks positively amazing, with a hyper-obssesive attention to detail when duplicating the sets of the earlier movie. All the impressive visual effects are realized in glorious technicolor. But I have to single out the porcelain doll character as the film's triumphant CGI achievement. Unfortunately this prequel whitewashes the darker and more ambiguous overtones found in
L. Frank Baum's story. What's left is a predictable and decidedly lightweight tale of redemption that doesn't come across as truly earned. As played by a constantly smirking
James Franco, The titular character's transformation from huckster to hero is so unconvincing that when
Oz finally gets to kiss the angelic
Glinda, the scene feels kinda gross.
