Is "Oz the Great and Powerful" really great and powerful? Recently the Houston Family Examiner was able to take the whole family to the press screening of this newest movie from Disney and prequel to the beloved "The Wizard of Oz."
"Oz" was beautiful, imaginative, whimsical, spectacular and a true test of believing the best in people. Movie watchers finally get to find out why and how the "Wizard of Oz" got to the land of Oz and why his presence there was so very important.
Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis shined as the witches of Oz. Kunis was Theodora, beautiful, naive, innocent and a believer in all that was good until her sister twisted her infatuation for "Oz" (Oscar Diggs/James Franco) into something horrible. Her jealousy and the tricks of her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) turned her into the "Wicked Witch of the West" you may recognize from the original "Wizard of Oz."
Michelle Williams (Annie and Glinda the Good Witch) shines as she not only knows the real Oz but accepts him for who he is and believes in him and his ability to be so much more.
Joey King as China Girl and Zach Braff as Oz's friend Frank and then "Finley" shine. The children actually thought they were the best characters of the movie, with a close second of Glinda the Good Witch. Personally I can see some requests coming in from many families for costumes based on these characters for Halloween.
If you have young children you may want to pay passing attention to the "some scenes may be too intense for young viewers," statement on the movie promos. My children did beautifully but there were three moments in which the were frightened or had to hide in mom's lap. They quickly recovered and were caught back up into the movie and the story. However, the best way to solve this is to see it in 2D. Each of the three scenes that were too intense were in 3D and the event or character literally jumped off the screen.
There are many good reasons why James Franco received the Hollywood Walk of Fame star, but I won't share too much because I hate spoilers.
Overall, "Oz the Great and Powerful" was absolutely great and powerful. It pulled you in and even once the lights came back on you didn't want to leave the theater. Of course with all the imaginative special effects, good gone bad and bad gone good characters, as well as a beloved story that many know, Disney couldn't go wrong.
If you want to bring home some of "Oz" both the people and the places, print out these four free Oz activities. Enjoy this hilarious video interview between China Girl (Joey King) and Finley (Zach Braff).
“Like” OZ THE GREAT & POWERFUL on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ozthegreatandpowerful
"Follow" OZ THE GREAT & POWERFUL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyozmovie
Visit the website: http://www.disney.com/thewizard
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