OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

Walt Disney Pictures

Rated PG

Running time: 130 Minutes




Click below to watch the Oz the Great and Powerful trailer.




In Walt Disney Pictures Oz the Great and Powerful, James Franco is Oz, a con artist carnival magician who gets caught up in a twister - and winds up in the Land of Oz.

Based on the works of L. Frank Baum and directed by Sam Raimi with music from Danny Elfman, this is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz from 1939 as elements from The Wizard of Oz is explained in Oz the Great and Powerful. Like The Wizard of Oz, at the beginning of the movie Oz the Great and Powerful, the movie starts out in black and white when it is set in Kansas - and turns into color when Franco/Oz arrives at the land of Oz. The aspect ratio of the movie also changes to the wider widescreen format and goes from monaural sound to surround sound when the movie is in the Land of Oz. And just like the original The Wizard of Oz, several characters from the black and white Kansas play characters in the land of Oz, such as Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, and Joey King.

After an unsuccessful magic show in a traveling circus, Franco/Oz gets caught in a twister while riding in a hot air balloon. When he arrives in the Land of Oz, Franco/Oz gets mistaken to be the Wizard that was described in prophecy. Franco/Oz soon gets recruited to save the Land of Oz from the wicked witch who had killed the king of Oz.

I liked the fact that the opening credits were created more like practical credits in line with the time of the movie instead of CGI credits and that practical sets were mostly used in the film. Elfman's music gives the movie a classic Hollywood movie feel to the movie. The song Almost Home from Mariah Carey is used during the end credits of the movie and is the only contemporary song in the movie. This is not a musical with characters breaking into song like in the original Wizard of Oz or as Disney musical animated fairy tale films tend to do.

While it has been years since I have read Baum's Oz series, and I have never seen the theater musical play Wicked, this felt like a true prequel to the movie The Wizard of Oz as we got to know much more of the characters from the original The Wizard of Oz movie. The story is such a tragedy, but the movie does set up the events to The Wizard of Oz movie that is set 20 years later.

I felt that Franco/Oz's relationships with the women in the beginning of the movie were a little too long to get to the story - but when Franco/Oz first arrives in the Land of Oz, it feels like riding in an attraction at Disneyland, which is quite appropriate as the movie was produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Disney had been trying to produce a film based on the Baum's Oz books since the late 1930's. Producer Joe Roth was happy to finally have a fairy tale with a male protagonist, such as the male protagonist in the origin story of Oz the Great and Powerful. Franco/Oz's desire to be a great man, obviously leads to him becoming Oz the Great and Powerful. Franco received magical training with magician Lance Burton in preparation for the role of a magician in this film. Franco and Braff reminded me of Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. In fact, I could see Broderick and Lane doing their roles.

The twister was much more intense and violent than the twister in The Wizard of Oz. It was more like the movie Twister than the sanitized fantasy version that was shown in The Wizard of Oz. In fact there were several times that I expected Franco/Oz to be seriously injured during the various episodes of the movie.

I saw the movie in regular 2-D, but the movie was obviously designed as a 3-D movie. The movie does have some scary scenes that Raimi had to edit down to get a PG rating, which is Raimi's first PG film. For those of us who were scared as children from the original The Wizard of Oz, Oz the Great and Powerful is a scarier movie for children - especially the flying baboons. I am sure the movie is even scarier in 3-D.

Rated PG for violence. Running time: 130 Minutes.

Pancho 
All people smile in the same language.
 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Rated PG-13

Running time: 105 minutes



In Twentieth Century Fox's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, James Franco develops a new experimental retrovirus for a corporation to cure brain damage like Alzheimer's Disease - with a by-product of increasing intelligence. Testing on apes begets Ceasar, Andy Serkis, the leader of the Apes.

A combination of Charly and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, this is an intelligent story of the beginning of how the apes became the dominant species in the Planet of the Apes series. Not surprising since the novels Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys and Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, of which Charly and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes are based on and suggested by, are classic literary books. What makes the movie work is Franco's love and devotion to his father John Lithgow - who is suffering from a degenerative brain disease. Although they do not specifically mention that Lithgow has Alzheimer's, just that he has a disease. This is one reason that Franco pushes for the development of the serum. Despite his obsession, Franco does soon realize that the serum is still experimental and that there could be side-effects.

The computer graphics of the apes were very good. The chimpanzee Ceasar was very cute when he was younger, especially when he was home, but very serious as an intelligent adult played by Andy Serkis. This is shown when the older Ceasar is first shown in the San Francisco Redwoods. The beastial nature of all the apes - most of which, if not all, are performance-capture artists - in the animal shelter compound can get to you if you are not used to that much raw emotion.

Tom Felton of Harry Potter fame was quite good as a sadistic animal controller assistant.

A classic line from the series is priceless.

Stick around when the end credits begin as there is a scene and graphics which leads to the development of the entire Planet of the Apes series. Wait for the graphics to be complete. The lost of a manned Mars space mission also hints at the series, as well as other homages to the series.

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 105 minutes.

See the movie review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes by UFO Bob:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz5R6MJEPP0&feature=colike

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Your Highness

Universal Pictures

Rated R

Running time: 102 minutes



In Universal Pictures Your Highness, Prince James Franco's bride-to-be, Lady Zooey Deschanel gets kidnapped from their castle home by the evil wizard Justin Theroux. Franco then goes on a quest with his knights to rescue Deschanel - along with his lazy brother Danny McBride.

A cross between The Three Musketeers as well as The Princess Bride and Xena: Warrior Princess, this film is much more of an action film than a comedy that the trailers make it out to be. You can feel the jealousy that loser brother Danny McBride has for his heroic brother James Franco, but never forget that they are brothers. McBride reminds me of Oliver Platt in The Three Musketeers. although not as sophisticated, while Franco reminds me of Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride. On the eve of the Royal Wedding, one can imagine the chaos Theroux created during Franco's wedding and why the brothers are now on a quest. The quest picks up when they encounter fellow warrior Natalie Portman, a hot woman who can kick serious ass, but who has her own quest to get Theroux. Treachery and villainy abound as evil Chosen One Theroux needs virgin Deschanel to fulfill the ancient astrological prophesy to give birth to a dragon which he can control for his evil deeds. While a lot of magic bolts were flung around, it is surprising that the bolts were not actually deadly but only threw everyone around. The Great Wize Wizard is the most perverted muppet-like character I have ever seen, even more so than the Minotaur. At least you can understand the Minotaur's beastiality in his home lair.

The 3-D-like opening credits were pretty cool, especially when watching a 2-D film. I can imagine how they would look like in a real 3-D movie.

Rated R for violence, language, and sexual situations. Running time: 102 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

 Pancho's Movie Reviews