Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

Raise your hand if you’re fan of Sam Raimi, he of The Evil Dead, The Quick and the Dead, and Spider-Man fame.  I too once was a fan of his work especially after Spider-Man 2 – a movie, which at the time I considered to be the pinnacle of superhero films.  Then the colossal disaster that is Spider-Man 3 happened; a movie loaded with scenes that made me cringe as if an army of fingernails were raking across a giant chalkboard.  When he followed that up with a pedestrian effort in Drag Me to Hell, I completely lost interest in his work.  But really, the damage had been done as the stink of that one huge debacle had completely soured me on the director’s work.  So when I first heard about Oz the Great and Powerful, I had very little interest in seeing it.

So does Raimi acquit himself with this movie based on Frank Baum’s novels?  Not quite, but he doesn’t exactly embarrass himself either.  The plot of the movie is set some twenty years before The Wizard of Oz and details Oscar Diggs’ journey from Kansas to Oz.  When he arrives in the mythical land he finds that a wicked with is tormenting the land that the natives believe him to be the wizard who will free them from their plight. 

Despite the fact that there are a number of things that could not appear in the film (footage from the The Wizard of Oz, the ruby red slippers, certain design specs of the yellow brick road), because of WB’s ownership rights, the latest Disney cash cow ($84M opening weekend) plays very much like an homage to its predecessor with a number of winks and nods.  I have to wonder though if Raimi makes the same mistake that Bryan Singer made with Superman Returns.  While I understand the desire to create this palpable connective tissue between the two films, this almost dogmatic approach to evoking images from the past makes things feel familiar but dated.  More importantly, I think it represents a missed opportunity to build out a fresh new approach to some very familiar source material.

Obviously, I am not exactly in the target demographic here as this film is clearly family fair.  But I do think that the movie slow plays a bit too long for any demographic and as a result, the first two acts feel like one big set up – albeit one unfolding at a snail’s pace.  Normally, this would not completely spell doom for a film, unless said movie features James Franco in the lead.  Once upon a time, Franco was an up-and-comer lauded for wanting to improve his craft.  Then Spider-Man 3 happened (and subsequently Pineapple Express, hosting the Oscars, Your Highness).  Coincidence?  I think not.  In this film, Franco hams it up as the con man Oscar Diggs but unfortunately he is not fooling anyone.  Of the cast, his overacting is the worst performance by a mile.

The damage of Franco’s ineptitude could have been mitigated had the three witches dazzled onscreen.  Unfortunately, those three performances were very much a mixed bag.  At times, Michelle Williams (Glinda) is electrifying onscreen.  Then there are those moments where she is muted and disconnected.  Rachel Weisz (Evanora) seems to be channeling a bit of Charlize Theron from Snow White in the Huntsman, but fails to tap into that unbridled rage, which made that performance work.  And Mila Kunis (Theodora) seems sorely out of place in this film.  Everything about the way she speaks and moves is so contemporary that through the proceedings, you are constantly aware that you are watching someone play a character from the fantastical past.  And that is not a good thing for a movie that demands the suspension of disbelief.

Rounding out the rest of the cast is Zach Braff (where have you been?), Joey King, Bill Cobbs, and Tony Cox.  Each is competent in limited roles, but it is of no consequence as the stink of James Franco permeates this entire film.  I will say that the narrative does pick up in the third act as all the moving pieces come to a head.  It was at this time that I finally became engaged by the plot.  Unfortunately, it is a bit too little and way too late, because when you know where a film is going to end up (based upon the beginning of The Wizard of Oz), the journey has to be as good as the payoff.

So in considering all this I would give this movie an extremely mild recommendation as a Netflix rental only.  There are some strong visuals and a few fun moments (especially if you have children), but not enough to warrant paying cinema prices or going out of your way to view it.  Anything more than that and you will come away from the movie disappointed.  Talk has begun in regards to a sequel (perhaps sans Raimi) so here’s hoping James Franco suddenly remembers how to act in the interim or that they pull the ole switcheroo.

Standout Performance: Michelle Williams.  She is not always great, but she is my favorite in this movie though this may be a function of her character more than anything else.

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Review: The Bourne Legacy

Is it possible for Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) to not be in a movie, but then be in a movie, but then not actually be in the movie?  This is the question I asked myself repeatedly during the first act of The Bourne Legacy.  We get that there is a connection to the previous trilogy starring the aforementioned Damon especially since the name “Bourne” is in the title of the new film, and we get that “There Was Never Just One” as we’ve been told by the incredibly vague one sheets (worst. marketing. ever.) plastered at your local bus stop.  But to devote so much of the first act towards the previous film – The Bourney Ultimatum – even though the films are meant to be perceived concurrently really derails Legacy as a stand alone film.  That and the fact that the opening act is incredibly slow really sets a bad tone for the rest of the movie - one that proves difficult to overcome.

The Bourne Legacy follows the plight of Aaron Cross (played by Jeremy Renner), who is yet another covert operative in the increasingly crowded world of espionage originated by author Robert Ludlum.  Cross is a somewhat reluctant agent who is put on the run when CIA officials decide to cut bait after the fallout from Bourne’s activities.  Throw in some genetic alterations, pharmaceuticals, (a hotbed of political activity, no doubt) the lovely Rachel Weisz, and morally ambiguous government officials and we’re off to the races.

Legacy is not a bad movie, it’s just not what we’ve come to expect from the series.  And if they wanted to make more of a clean break and reboot the franchise, spending the first 30 minutes of the film unraveling Jason Bourne’s final cinematic act was probably not the best way to proceed.  That it lends itself to a ton of exposition and brings the pacing to a stand still further exasperates the problem.  And like a basketball player who front rims his first foul shot, director Tony Gilroy over compensates the methodical start to the film by fast forwarding through the third act.  Or  in basketball terms (to complete the analogy), he clangs the second free throw off the back of the rim.

Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross is adequate.  There’s nothing here we haven’t seen from him before.  He is no nonsense and brings enough physicality to role to make things credible.  There’s just nothing extraordinary about his performance – no extra layer that sets his character apart from dozens of other cinematic tough guys who can wield a gun and save the girl. Ditto for Rachel Weisz as Dr. Marta Shearing, who knows very well how to play this type of role.  We’ve seen her do it expertly in The Mummy and Constantine.  Again there is nothing special about her in this film and the charm that usually makes her standout onscreen is noticeably absent.

As for the rest of the cast, it’s Ed Norton and a bunch of people you vaguely recognize (Scott Glenn, Donna Murphy, Stacy Keach), only it’s not the Ed Norton of American History X or Fight Club.  It’s middle aged Ed Norton in business casual looking grim and frustrated from inside an office building and it’s definitely a step down for an actor who has delivered many memorable performances.

In gauging this film, the tenor of my review is probably more negative than my initial reaction to the movie, but as the saying goes, “to those whom are given much, much is expected.”  And the creative team has been given much – a strong cast and a well-recognized franchise, but at the end of the day, despite all the motion and commotion, you’re left to wonder what was really accomplished during the film’s two hour running time.  That is where my disappointment with this film ultimately stems from.

Despite all this, I would recommend The Bourne Legacy only with diminished expectations.  It’s not a game changer and not a mind bender.  It’s your standard action fare with expertly shot action sequences and a little too much exposition in between.  One can argue whether it is a successful reboot of the franchise, but the better question to be debated is whether or not it is a franchise worth watching without the character (and actor) whose name appears in the title.  My answer is going forward is no.

Standout Performance: The nod has to go to Jeremy Renner for this film even though his performance is not exceptional.  He does all the heavy lifting here and everyone else in the movie is more or less window dressing.

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Review: Dream House

The low-lying fruit in Hollywood is the horror genre.  How else can you explain 42 sequels to Saw and 30 incarnations of Final Destination.  Okay, so there aren’t that many; it only feels that way.  But really, horror films are incredibly polarizing.   You rarely find anyone who is ambivalent.  People tend to be on one side of the aisle or the other.  Those, who are on the side that does not mind cheap scares and a little bit of gore to go with their popcorn and soda, are a loyal bunch.  Having seen Dream House, it feels like the fine marketing folks at NBCUniversal were really trying to reach out to those fans, even if it meant stretching the truth a bit.

The problem here is the Dream House may look like a horror film and try to act like a horror film, but that is precisely what it is not.  On paper, director Jim Sheridan’s project has a lot going for it.  Daniel Craig, in my opinion the best James Bond ever, sits in the driver’s seat of this mind-bending (or so it aspires) movie as a husband and father of two, who learns that he and his family are living in a house where three ghastly murders took place.  The plot unfolds as Craig’s Will Atenton peels away the layers to the murders and moves closer to discovering a dark set of truths.  If the movie only aspired to be that (a Whodunnit flick), all would have been better off.  Unfortunately, the movie incorporates a supernatural element to the movie that leaves the plot looking like a thin slice of Swiss cheese.

The cast does very little to redeem themselves or the film in this outing.  Daniel Craig is just adequate in much the same way as he is in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  The issue is that Craig excels in alpha-male roles involving intense physicality as opposed to that of a more passive and slightly inept detective of events.  Rachel Weisz is cast as a key role in this movie (Will Atenton's wife), but struggles to really make a strong emotional impact.  It is in stark contrast to some of her better performances (i.e. About A Boy, Definitely, Maybe).  Perhaps she and Craig fell victim to the cinematic trap that is spouses working together on a film (see also Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut).  As for Naomi Watts, I’ve not seen her in a film that I liked since The Ring.  Or maybe I feel like that is all I have seen her in because she has one stock performance that she constantly delivers.

I hate to say this, because I am one of those people who enjoys a good scare, an intense thriller, or even an occasional gore fest, but I find myself hard-pressed to recommend this movie.  At the very most, it is a bottom of the queue / free cable movie, but in all honesty it is a movie you should take a pass on.  However, Daniel Craig fans fear not.  Skyfall is currently in production and is already receiving great buzz.

Standout Performance:  Marton Csokas has made a decent career out of glaring at the camera and portraying generally mean characters.  This film is one more notch in the belt.

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