Oz the Great and Powerful ain’t so great after all

Welcome to dreary and colorless Kansas. Here you will find the traveling Baum Brothers Circus with many talented acts, such as Oz the Wizard, a man destined for greatness stuck in a shabby tent deceiving the crowds with his so-called magic. Oz also uses his “magic” to win the hearts of women, but he leaves them all broken-hearted, when they realize that he has fooled them into thinking he loves them too.

In the film The Great and Powerful Oz, a tornado sweeps up Oz in a hot-air balloon transporting him from black and white Kansas to the colorful land of Oz. As Oz flies somewhere over the rainbow he becomes ecstatic that he is alive, but is shocked at all the unusual sights that he sees.

Cascading waterfalls drop to forests of flowers that make music when they sway in the wind, while river fairies use their tiny sharp teeth to bite people’s ankles. The hot-air balloon crashes into a river and finally sinks, leaving Oz on shore where a woman looks expectantly at him like she has been waiting for him.

Theodora is a witch who tells Oz of the prophecy that a wizard with the name Oz would come and defeat the Wicked Witch to free the people of the land. When Oz realizes that he would become King of Oz and would receive all the riches he decides to deceive Theodora and everyone he meets into believing he is that wizard, while knowing that it can’t really be him since he has no true magical power.

Oz saves a flying talking monkey named Finley from the slithering vines of a tree, thereby gaining a loyal servant for life. With Theodora and Finley by his side, Oz enters the Emerald City and meets the temporary ruler,

 Theodora’s sister Evanora. Evanora tells him that to get his royal title and wealth he must first kill the Wicked Witch. He embarks on a journey, acquiring friends and foes, and is shocked to find that the Wicked Witch is not who he thought she was.

The Great and Powerful Oz captivates audiences with its imaginative special effects, elaborate costumes, and intriguing sets, but that’s not enough to make up for the confusing and disappointing storyline. The movie is just a little too slow in the first half to keep up with the fast-paced films that people are used to these days.

It also fails to incorporate many ideas from the original movie The Wizard of Oz that it is supposedly a prequel to; it should instead be thought of as a separate movie series, because there is no need for a hero named Dorothy in this land of Oz.