There should be more than just a brimful of goodness in “OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL” given the worldwide media coverage.
As a peppy “feel good” movie, it’s positioned way-right-on-top, laced with an assortment of creative wonderment to entice you into its aesthetic world of awesome animation.
As a film, the surrealistic splendor is stylized with dazzling effects that will take your breath away, armed with fun characters and their boisterous banter, everything is set to bedazzle and tickle the mind.
That said, this is essentially wholesome family entertainment galore, and that’s what it’s meant to be, staying close to the familiar old school Disney doctrine that the good will always triumph over evil in eventuality.
“OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL” is crafted as an adventure fantasy directed by SAM RAIMI (The Spiderman Trilogy). He drums up a colorful extravaganza utilizing the brilliance of exotic blues, dazzling red and sparkling emeralds among others.
This 2013 film stays in top form to L.FRANK BAUM’s novel “The Wizard of Oz” and is actually a prequel to the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz”.
The glittering star ensemble comprising of JAMES FRANCO, MILA KUNIS, MICHELLE WILLIAMS and RACHEL WEISZ are all up for the challenge, competing tooth and nail for screen time, oozing charm and charisma.
Welcome aboard a wondrous journey of visual delights – on the ground, as in the Dark Forest, and in the air, when they travel via large transparent bubbles.
The colorful plot:
Oscar Diggs (James Franco) plays a conman, a compulsive womanising magician who has been swept up from a Kansas plain when a tornado hits and transported to the merry Land of Oz.
Here, he encounters three beautiful albeit disdainful witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams).
Oscar becomes entangled in unexpected problems that are confronted by the citizens of Oz who had long awaited for a savior to rescue them from their lot.
Believing that Oscar would be their leader, they are buoyant with renewed hope, but Oscar who has always aspired to be a great and powerful man, will first have to redeem his wayward ways.
You are treated to flying moneys and flying baboons and what have you. But don’t go making comparisons on past works over this present one.
Mesmerizing. Poignant.
“OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL” displays a refreshing take in arty surrealism.
There’s this CHINESE adage that preaches, “In LIFE, when you hit rock bottom, all you need to do is to fight your way UP.”
Yeah, right.
That is, provided you DON’T EVER SAY DIE.
“DIE” is one improbable word. It exclaims “defeat”.
Here’s an inspiring true-life parable about an aloof, crazy guy who loves sports and adventure as he sets out on a journey to the rockies, on his mountain bike.
The wide expanse of freedom and nature greet him.
He just needs to be away from civilization for a while. He is leaving no words. Nope, he’s not calling his mother either.
Our hero discovers that he is a human being capable of a superhuman feat of endurance when he is thrown into a death-defying situation.
That is, when he finds that he is ambling inches away from this thing called “death”.
He is an avid mountain climber ARON RALSTON, who made headlines in 2003 when he became trapped in the Blue John Canyon in Utah, his arm pinned by a heavy boulder.
After five days alone, all hopes dashed and strength seeping away, RALSTON elected to amputate his trapped arm with a pen knife in the hope he could run for help, before losing too much blood.
Sitting in your armchair, would you ever understand what’s it is like to be alone and fearful, trapped within the harrowing depths of despair?
“127 Hours” directed by DANNY BOYLE is not a morale booster summoning your inner strength, nor it is a horrific tale – but one about a common man,in his throes of despair mustering his courage to re-examine the circumstances that led to his predicament.
Does this not strike a familiar chord in us that we are all guilty of the same trait?
When thrown into the deepest of depths, a regretful RALSTON has all the time in his hands to re-run the journey of his life at the back of his mind …. his dreams, parental love, a dwindling relationship and his cockiness.
It’s a compulsory playback where you are forced to re-assess what you have achieved so far, and what you’d have missed if you had perished in a mishap.
We gather a stark morale here that demonstrates to us never to take our lives for granted when we are still breathing.
Because in life, not everyone has a second chance.
Writer SHARNAE GREEN writes:
“I cry in courage.
It’s the only way to release pain using bravery and strength.
My courage despises my weaknesses.
Courage causes my muscles to tense up in my thighs
and pump my legs to push in front of each other,
causing motion and strength to walk.
Courage is power, strength, dedication and this smile that hides my pain.”
“127 HOURS” is a bravura piece of film-making that captures the resilience of the human spirit. It is taut, gripping, a movie you’ll never forget with a mesmerizing performance by JAMES FRANCO as ARON RALSTON.
Metaphorically speaking, in LIFE, when you are mentally trapped in the abyss of your own thinking, never self-destruct, never say die. Never ever.
When you fall, pick yourself up.
Pep up your courage, because in life, everyone’s too busy fending for himself.
Please don’t dream of conquering Mount Everest, nor scale any highest mountain after this.
“127 HOURS” is a visual tour-de-force.
British Director-of-Photography ANTHONY DOD MANTLE does a splendid job in conveying poetic justice when he has his camera closes on the bewilderment on actor JAMES FRANCO’s face when he first learns that he’s trapped by his own folly.
Then as the camera pans across the sprawling expanse of lonely mountains, we hear his resounding cries of anguish, first rising to a crescendo then slowly fading away, when the camera draws back – as if the shot is taken from a helicopter.
It’s this real.
“127 HOURS” inadvertently admonishes us to think, every time – before we take any calculated risk.
Avoid being a smart Alec and to steer away from this thing called DANGER.
Because being a community hero sometimes may not justify any rewards at the end of the day.
