Released Year: 2013
Directed by Sam Raimi
Casted by:
James Franco as Oscar Diggs / Wizard of Oz
Michelle Williams as Glinda the Good Witch / Annie
Mila Kunis as Theodora / The Wicked Witch of the West
Rachel Weisz as Evanora / The Wicked Witch of the East
Mila Kunis as Theodora / The Wicked Witch of the West
Rachel Weisz as Evanora / The Wicked Witch of the East
Story:
Oscar Diggs (nicknamed Oz) is a small-time circus magician and con artist in a traveling circus. He is early revealed to be a womanizer who tricks women by giving them a music box which he claims to have belonged to his dead grandmother, though in reality he has plenty of them. With his assistant Frank, Oscar runs a magic show where he mesmerizes the audience, but he is revealed to be a fraud when he is unable to heal a young girl who is unable to walk. Annie, a woman he is revealed to genuinely be in love with, visits Oscar at the circus to tell him another man proposed to her. Oscar, caring for her and realizing he is a bad man, tells her she should accept. As a storm approaches the circus, the circus strongman attacks Oscar after finding one of his music boxes he had given to his girlfriend. Oscar escapes in a hot air balloon with his top hat and a sack of supplies but is sucked into a tornado. As the balloon breaks apart, Oscar promises God that if he survives this he will become a good man.
Oscar finds himself in the land of Oz. The witch Theodora finds him and explains she believes he is the focus of a prophecy after seeing him perform a few simple magic tricks, which she believes are real magic. The wicked witch Glinda, Theodora's sister, killed their father, the wizard and king of Oz, but it was predicted a great and powerful wizard by the name of Oz would descend from the sky, save the land, and become their new king. The duo follow the Yellow Brick Road to the capital, the Emerald City. Along the way, Oscar follows his womanizing ways and gives Theodora a music box; she clearly falls in love with him whereas he rebuffs such commitment. The duo encounter Finley (a reference to Frank, who he called his monkey), a flying monkey, and Oscar saves him from the cowardly lion with magical illusion. Finley pledges a life debt to Oscar.
In the Emerald City, the good witch Evanora guards the throne until the prophecy wizard arrives. She is skeptical of Oscar being the wizard, but claims he can have all the power and wealth of the king if he kills Glinda by stealing and destroying her wand, the source of her power. Oscar and Finley travel to the Forbidden Forest, but along the way, they see smoke coming from "China Town", where the inhabitants are all made of porcelain. Everyone is dead except for a young, un-named girl whose legs are broken (a reference to the handicapped girl). He fixes her legs with glue. She explains that the bad witch destroyed the city with her flying baboons because they celebrated Oscar's arrival to the land of Oz.
The trio travel to the Forbidden Forest and find Glinda, who resembles Annie in appearance and actions. However, she reveals that she is the good witch and that Evanora is the one who killed the previous king. Evanora sees this with her crystal ball. Theodora enters the room, and Evanora explains that Oscar had given her a precious music box and she fell in love with him (this is implied to be a lie), and she reveals that Oscar is now consorting with Glinda. Theodora's heart broken, Evanora offers to remove all feelings from her heart to stop the pain, to which Theodora agrees. In doing so, she turns into a wicked witch, turning her green. She realizes that Evanora is the wicked witch, but Evanora's spell is irreversible. The witches attack Glinda, Oscar, Finley, and the China Girl with the army of the Emerald City and their flying baboons. Glinda's magic allows the team to escape, first hiding them in a fog, then having them fly to Munchkinland, with a barrier strong enough to prevent Evanora from reaching it.
In Munchkinland, Glinda reveals she knows that Oscar isn't truly a wizard but tells him he might be what they need. He tells the land he is the wizard here to save them, and he meets his "army": tinkers who can build anything, farmers who can grow anything, and munchkins that can create any clothing, all of whom are forbidden to kill. Theodora breaks the barrier and attacks the town, telling Oscar she did this to him. Glinda fights her off, but she says that she'll come back with the armies of the Emerald City. Oscar realizes he can't win against such an army with what is available and decides to leave, but he has a change of heart when the China Girl tells him that the old king used to grant wishes; she wishes to have her family back, but Oscar sadly realizes he can't help with this. He tells Glinda while they can't win in a straight-out battle against the Emerald City, they might be able to win through illusion. The town creates various objects for the upcoming battle.
Oscar and a few others sneak into the Emerald City in a magician's wagon with the help of the Emerald City's grumpy herald, a secret ally of Glinda. While sneaking in, Munchkinland "attacks" the Emerald city under Glinda's fog. The wicked witches send their army of flying baboons to attack, but the "army" turns out to be straw men moving through a field of poppies. As the baboons enter the field, they are put to sleep by its effects. However, two remaining baboons manage to snatch Glinda. China Girl recovers her wand. Glinda is placed in the central region of the Emerald City to be tortured and executed by the wicked witches. By this point, the citizens of the Emerald City know the truth but are afraid to challenge the wicked witch sisters.
While this goes on, Oscar steals a large amount of gold from the Emerald City vaults and flies away with it in a hot air balloon. Theodora shows this to the town and then destroys the balloon to destroy the city's hopes. This is simply an illusion by Oscar to make the town think he was dead so that he can be reincarnated as the Great and Powerful Oz, a wizard with no human form, which is really just a face projected onto smoke in the center of the city thanks to the wagon sneaked into the city earlier. The guards and witches attack, which of course has no effect. As the witches grow fearful, Oscar "attacks" them and the city with fireworks, which they have never seen. In the confusion, Evanora runs in fear and China Girl brings Glinda her wand, allowing her to escape. Evanora and Glinda face off, with Glinda winning, and the two wicked witches run from the Emerald City. As Theodora runs away, Oscar apologizes to Theodora for what she has become and says she can come back if she ever regains her former self, but she simply laughs at the idea.
The movie concludes with Oscar creating a miniature version of his projection system, as he needs to make the citizens believe "Oscar" died but that Oz lives on in order to keep them united against the wicked witches. In keeping with the previous king, but unable to grant wishes, he gives the main characters of the story gifts. He offers the Master Tinker a type of Swiss army knife Oscar himself used in the film. The herald is given a mask with a smiley face. Finley is given something Oscar never gave anyone, his friendship (and hat). He gives the China Girl a new family in the form of her friends. He gives Glinda some sort of unspecified romantic relationship.
Oscar finds himself in the land of Oz. The witch Theodora finds him and explains she believes he is the focus of a prophecy after seeing him perform a few simple magic tricks, which she believes are real magic. The wicked witch Glinda, Theodora's sister, killed their father, the wizard and king of Oz, but it was predicted a great and powerful wizard by the name of Oz would descend from the sky, save the land, and become their new king. The duo follow the Yellow Brick Road to the capital, the Emerald City. Along the way, Oscar follows his womanizing ways and gives Theodora a music box; she clearly falls in love with him whereas he rebuffs such commitment. The duo encounter Finley (a reference to Frank, who he called his monkey), a flying monkey, and Oscar saves him from the cowardly lion with magical illusion. Finley pledges a life debt to Oscar.
In the Emerald City, the good witch Evanora guards the throne until the prophecy wizard arrives. She is skeptical of Oscar being the wizard, but claims he can have all the power and wealth of the king if he kills Glinda by stealing and destroying her wand, the source of her power. Oscar and Finley travel to the Forbidden Forest, but along the way, they see smoke coming from "China Town", where the inhabitants are all made of porcelain. Everyone is dead except for a young, un-named girl whose legs are broken (a reference to the handicapped girl). He fixes her legs with glue. She explains that the bad witch destroyed the city with her flying baboons because they celebrated Oscar's arrival to the land of Oz.
The trio travel to the Forbidden Forest and find Glinda, who resembles Annie in appearance and actions. However, she reveals that she is the good witch and that Evanora is the one who killed the previous king. Evanora sees this with her crystal ball. Theodora enters the room, and Evanora explains that Oscar had given her a precious music box and she fell in love with him (this is implied to be a lie), and she reveals that Oscar is now consorting with Glinda. Theodora's heart broken, Evanora offers to remove all feelings from her heart to stop the pain, to which Theodora agrees. In doing so, she turns into a wicked witch, turning her green. She realizes that Evanora is the wicked witch, but Evanora's spell is irreversible. The witches attack Glinda, Oscar, Finley, and the China Girl with the army of the Emerald City and their flying baboons. Glinda's magic allows the team to escape, first hiding them in a fog, then having them fly to Munchkinland, with a barrier strong enough to prevent Evanora from reaching it.
In Munchkinland, Glinda reveals she knows that Oscar isn't truly a wizard but tells him he might be what they need. He tells the land he is the wizard here to save them, and he meets his "army": tinkers who can build anything, farmers who can grow anything, and munchkins that can create any clothing, all of whom are forbidden to kill. Theodora breaks the barrier and attacks the town, telling Oscar she did this to him. Glinda fights her off, but she says that she'll come back with the armies of the Emerald City. Oscar realizes he can't win against such an army with what is available and decides to leave, but he has a change of heart when the China Girl tells him that the old king used to grant wishes; she wishes to have her family back, but Oscar sadly realizes he can't help with this. He tells Glinda while they can't win in a straight-out battle against the Emerald City, they might be able to win through illusion. The town creates various objects for the upcoming battle.
Oscar and a few others sneak into the Emerald City in a magician's wagon with the help of the Emerald City's grumpy herald, a secret ally of Glinda. While sneaking in, Munchkinland "attacks" the Emerald city under Glinda's fog. The wicked witches send their army of flying baboons to attack, but the "army" turns out to be straw men moving through a field of poppies. As the baboons enter the field, they are put to sleep by its effects. However, two remaining baboons manage to snatch Glinda. China Girl recovers her wand. Glinda is placed in the central region of the Emerald City to be tortured and executed by the wicked witches. By this point, the citizens of the Emerald City know the truth but are afraid to challenge the wicked witch sisters.
While this goes on, Oscar steals a large amount of gold from the Emerald City vaults and flies away with it in a hot air balloon. Theodora shows this to the town and then destroys the balloon to destroy the city's hopes. This is simply an illusion by Oscar to make the town think he was dead so that he can be reincarnated as the Great and Powerful Oz, a wizard with no human form, which is really just a face projected onto smoke in the center of the city thanks to the wagon sneaked into the city earlier. The guards and witches attack, which of course has no effect. As the witches grow fearful, Oscar "attacks" them and the city with fireworks, which they have never seen. In the confusion, Evanora runs in fear and China Girl brings Glinda her wand, allowing her to escape. Evanora and Glinda face off, with Glinda winning, and the two wicked witches run from the Emerald City. As Theodora runs away, Oscar apologizes to Theodora for what she has become and says she can come back if she ever regains her former self, but she simply laughs at the idea.
The movie concludes with Oscar creating a miniature version of his projection system, as he needs to make the citizens believe "Oscar" died but that Oz lives on in order to keep them united against the wicked witches. In keeping with the previous king, but unable to grant wishes, he gives the main characters of the story gifts. He offers the Master Tinker a type of Swiss army knife Oscar himself used in the film. The herald is given a mask with a smiley face. Finley is given something Oscar never gave anyone, his friendship (and hat). He gives the China Girl a new family in the form of her friends. He gives Glinda some sort of unspecified romantic relationship.
L² Scored: 6/10
L² Comment:
L² Comment:
Well, i never watch the old/original The Wizard of Oz before. But i remember there's this small girl, a tin man, scarecrow along the journey, but why is this different? Well, i love James Franco & Rachel Weisz, so i chose to watch it at the big screen... The storyline is ok, like the flying monkey & the talking china doll~ Beside this, the best surprise will be Mila Kunis when she transform into a witch~
