'Oz The Great and Powerful' & 'Upside Down' Reviews

Oz The Great and Powerful is the long awaited prequel to the 1939 classic Wizard of Oz. We are once again in Kansas following Oscar Diggs(Oz) who is a carnival magician with a desire to be great. He flies a hot air balloon into a tornado and is transported to Oz. He becomes embroiled in a political battle between three witches and is forced to make a difference or slink off into the shadows.

The movie is entertaining but a waste of potential. The primary fault lies with the acting of three of the four leads. Rachel Weisz is the only person who puts in a convincing performance. Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and James Franco seem to be overwhelmed, vacate, and stoned respectively. Their portrayals are so hollow that a lot is lost in what could have been a magical experience. The most engaging character was the computer animated China Girl. If the best acting is done by a non-human something is lacking.

Rent It.

Upside Down is a romantic scifi film. The film has beautiful and challenging landscapes but lacks any semblance of a developed story. The premise the film is based on, two worlds so close together they have "dual gravity" is wonderful to explore but isn't enough to keep the half-conceived poorly-executed romance from being DOA.

Jim Sturgess plays the same unlikeable hapless idiot he played in Across The Universe and 21. Didn't work in those movies and doesn't work in this one. Kirsten Dunst doesn't put much effort at all into her role and phones in every frame.

A great premise and nothing more.

Don't See It.