Episode 133: Oz The Great and Powerful Movie Review

March 19, 2013

Featuring Matt Anderson and Daniel Butcher

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6 comments on “Episode 133: Oz The Great and Powerful Movie Review

  1. Michael Mar 20, 2013

    I guess I can be glad for Matt that he enjoyed it more than I did, or than you did, Daniel! (I was hoping you’d keep talking Matt down to a lower and lower rating as the review wore on….) Of *course* Disney chose to make this a hit, in a way they didn’t with JOHN CARTER. And of *course* marketing affects what audiences think, or at least whether they will go get a movie that all-important boffo first weekend.

    You both hit the nail on the head: Oz never really is redeemed. If anything, Glinda brings good out of bad by maneuvering him into a position where he can help liberate Oz. I predicted this problem from the first I heard of this movie: you can’t both make Oscar Diggs the hero of the piece *and* leave him a humbug as he “needs” to be in the 1939 movie.

    Ironically, it is the prospects of seeing how things fall apart for Oscar before Dorothy arrives — and how Dorothy ends up inhabiting the same Oz Oscar goes to (although I guess Oz is not a dream in this continuity?) – that might make me see the sequel.

    I think you are right, Matt – Theodora has probably never cried, or she’s cried so long ago that she healed up and vowed never to cry again. See, here’s another angle the film flirted with but didn’t fully engage – that could be some really powerful stuff, how Theodora gradually falls in love and gives her hear to Oscar, only to have it broken again… But they had her fall for him immediately, no thought to character development. Ugh, ugh, ugh! So many missed opportunities.

    “Based on L. Frank Baum’s works” my foot… those credits lie! It is based on the 1939 film, and I’d be going over it with a fine tooth comb if I were MGM. Not only that yellow brick road swirl you guys mentioned, but the horses of different colors in the pasture as Oscar and Finley walk by. LOTS of details only barely, barely altered, it seems.

    The odd thing is, like I think I said in the review, I mostly enjoyed the film while watching it. As soon as it was over, though, a sour taste started to set in, and it just hasn’t gone away.

    You liked Finely better than China Girl, Daniel? Interesting. Maybe I just preferred China Girl because she’s a Baum character.

    Thanks for the kind words for my review article. (I did mention it contained spoilers in the title, by the way – I never want to spoil things for anyone if I can avoid it. I inadvertently spoiled “Forrest Gump” for someone when in seminary, and my wife has never let me live it down!)

    Definitely sign me up for the SFC review of the sequel! 🙂

  2. Daniel Mar 20, 2013

    I really really tried…I promise I did really want him to see the light.

    So I should reaveal my bias, I really want a helper monkey so I am inclined to like Finley!

  3. Daniel Mar 20, 2013

    Here is my own review of Oz the Great and Powerful at the Disney Fan Powerhouse Between Disney!
    http://www.betweendisney.com/2013/03/mousey-movie-review-oz-great-and-poweful.html

    And a bonus review on The Odd Life of Timothy Green.
    http://www.betweendisney.com/2013/01/mouse-movie-review-odd-life-of-timothy.html

  4. Kevin Ross Mar 21, 2013

    Oh, hey, LOST connection! (17 minute mark) When Ben Linus was found by the lostaways, he tried to assume the identity of Henry Gale, a man who had crashed on the island while traveling via **hot air balloon**. I had never known that Henry Gale was Dorothy’s uncle!

    I know it’s already old news, but I’m super stoked about Ben being back full time with Matt. Love the podcast, especially Ben/Coney.

  5. It was interesting to hear about some of the background about who would be the star of the movie….I have my own idea about who would have been best…
    my oz review…
    Its the story of a con man who made a deal with a deity and found himself in a place where everyobdy knows more about him then he does…drawing on elements from “The End”, “The Three Amigos”, and “Army of Darkness” he found his niche in life where his skills are appreciated. I found the children’s parts of it boring and as Bruce Cambell should have had the lead role in it I am dissapointed they made do with a lookalike/soundalike…I will give it 3 out of 5 for effort

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