MOVIE REVIEW: Oz The Great and Powerful (2013)

Oz (James Franco) is a stage magician and con artist who escapes on a hot air ballon after being pursued by a circus muscle head and after being carried away by a tornado lands on the magical land of Oz where he is seen as the long lost Wizard of Oz prophesied to unite the land and bring peace and prosperity. Oz meets Theodora (Mila Kunis) who brings him to her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz), the Wicked Witch of the East who now rules over the Emerald City. Theodora is smitten by Oz and believes him to be the real wizard. When Oz is sent by Evanora to kill the supposed evil witch Glinda (Michelle Williams) unbeknownst to Theodora, a tinge of jealousy brews which was exacerbated when Theodora sees Oz and Glinda getting along.

Oz realizes that Glinda is not the evil witch, and is in fact the Good Witch of the South and sets to help her retake the Emerald City, which was once ruled by a just and benevolent king until poisoned by Evanora, his own daughter. With the help of Quadlings, tinkers and Munchkins Oz sets out to show to the people of Emerald City that he is indeed the long awaited Wizard of Oz. Using his skills as a magician and con man, he sets out to show to the people of Emerald City that he will unite the land of Oz and expels Evanora and Theodora from the throne.

All throughout, Oz is helped by Finley, a flying monkey rescued by Oz from a lion and china girl, fixed by Oz after her village is destroyed by Evanora.

A remake of the earlier 1939 version, this 2013 issue is replete with moral and social insights that can enlighten and inspire, move and embolden and most of all, entertain and mesmerize. It speaks of the power of friendship, none other exemplified than that built by Oz and Finley and Oz and china girl. Indeed, the journey through life can best be endured and experienced I should say, when we have at least a few trusted and reliable friends, friends who will stick with us through thick and thin. And that friends, the true ones, come our way as we journey through life and we will find them in the most unexpected of circumstances in the most unusual of moments.

Another theme of the movie is the power of messianic myths. The people of Oz where told that a powerful and great wizard will one day arrive to unite and bring peace and prosperity to the land of Oz, when Oz arrives at the most opportune of times, the people of Oz believed that he really was the long awaited wizard. Sometimes such beliefs are exploited by selfish and egotistical persons, as Oz initially did, to enrich and empower themselves and their kin, all to the detriment of the societies in which the rule. Sometimes people are lulled into stupor to believe that only a certain person, only a certain type of person, can save them from their lot, but although Oz never was the great and powerful he is reputed to be, much less a wizard, he saved and united the land of Oz and liberated Emerald City - not because he was great or powerful, but because he made the people believed he was great and powerful, and such belief emboldened the people of Oz to make change itself happen.

Sometimes the people rely on external forces to create change, when in fact, the real power and the real force for societal change is the power of the mind of the people, their own views of themselves and their collective dreams and hopes for a better future is one that really, really has the power to change. Then again, maybe people like Oz are sometimes needed, if only to harness the peoples hopes into a force for change. I have not seen a movie in a long time which somehow externalizes the power of charismatic personalities - people who simply unite the people to bring change that the people can really do by themselves, if only they had the confidence and the wisdom to realize it.

This movie is one for the kids and the family, a great entertainment piece that provides joy as much as it teaches the viewers about the power of the mind to make things happen, and that the rapacious grab for power can and will destroy the humanity of each of us, and tear any family to pieces.

it is also rare for a movie nowadays to eschew sex and violence in its repertoire, and Oz the movie exquisitely does this with aplomb without diminishing its commercial value, not suprising since it earned more than USD 400 million in the box office, almost twice its USD 215 million budget. Kudos to the movie and the people who made it happen!