Oz, The Great and Powerful

[jackhammer91406]

I saw this film in IMAX 3D and believe me, every penny spent is visible. The opening and closing credits were clever.

 

Now the bad news...

 

If I broke the film up into three acts, the first act is the dullest because of all of the exposition. Not unusual.

 

The second act is a little better because now we are in Oz and we meet a few more characters who are more sympathetic and interesting.

.

The third act is the best because that is where almost all of the action in concentrated.

 

I thought the screenplay was good considering the filmmakers were constrained by copyright laws from using much of anything from the 1939 film that wasn't included in the books. There were some clever inferences and homages that made me feel I was in familiar territory.

 

I enjoyed the Danny Elfman score which was reminiscent of the soundtrack he created for the recently closed Cirque du Soliel show IRIS here in Hollywood.

 

The problem with the film in my opinion is James Franco. Yes, he is supposed to be a con artist, a flim-flam man with the dazzling smile and ruthless guile. BUT, he walks through the role and I was reminded of the sad job he did co-hosting the Oscars where he really had no energy or life at all. By the third act when the action starts to take place, he gets into it a bit more but by then it's too late, you never really like the guy at all (or at least I didn't even when he redeemed himself.)

Bottom line, the film was good, but it could have been GREAT and POWERFUL. It's a shame Robert Downey Jr couldn't have gone ahead and played this role...or even Johnny Depp. But MR Franco really didn't have the magic.

 

 

Speaking of Magic, I saw Jack the Giant Killer last week in IMAX 3D and I enjoyed that film as well. I know it got slammed by critics and bombed at the box office and I am sure our resident effete snob will chime in here to rail at my taste, but for escapist fare, I found it entertaining and fun. It had more MAGIC than Mr Franco's performance in Oz.

[skynyc]

jackhammer!

Thanks for the insightful review!

I organized a group of 12 folks to go see it on Monday, and we had a great time. But all agreed it's not a great movie.

Your assessment of the three acts is dead-on.

And we all agreed Franco was the weak link, until the very end.

I also cannot get over Mila Kunis' voice...she just sounds like that whiny 70s Show character and I found it so distracting. But heavens! She is just lovely in that red hat we first see her wearing.

The little nods to the original books and film were very enjoyable...the Baum Family Circus, the silver slippers and the statue the deceased king in the graveyard which was the spitting image of Frank Morgan.

I went to see it in 3D and am glad I did, as jackhammer's review states, you see every penny on the screen. I also saw it at the enormous screen at New York's Ziegfeld, the last large screen in town.

If you have any interest in classic fantasy, or great children's literature, I would recommend this film in this, or a similar venue.

I also think that you could bring almost any age child.

[operalover21]

jackhammer!

Thanks for the insightful review!

I organized a group of 12 folks to go see it on Monday, and we had a great time. But all agreed it's not a great movie.

Your assessment of the three acts is dead-on.

And we all agreed Franco was the weak link, until the very end.

I also cannot get over Mila Kunis' voice...she just sounds like that whiny 70s Show character and I found it so distracting. But heavens! She is just lovely in that red hat we first see her wearing.

The little nods to the original books and film were very enjoyable...the Baum Family Circus, the silver slippers and the statue the deceased king in the graveyard which was the spitting image of Frank Morgan.

I went to see it in 3D and am glad I did, as jackhammer's review states, you see every penny on the screen. I also saw it at the enormous screen at New York's Ziegfeld, the last large screen in town.

If you have any interest in classic fantasy, or great children's literature, I would recommend this film in this, or a similar venue.

I also think that you could bring almost any age child.

 

We have our first big budget disaster of the year. Think JOHN CARTER without the hot, shirtless guy (afterall as bad as that was we got a half naked Taylor Kitsch for 2 hours so all was not lost). OZ is a bloated, ridiculous film with no decent plotting, a leaden script and acting that wouldn't be acceptable in a first year drama class.

 

It's a total piece of shit.

[+ Cash4Trash]

Oz The Great And Powerful grossed 92,540,469 in it's first 5 days of domestic release and added another 69,900,000 in foreign dollars.

It will prove to be a profitable movie for Disney.

 

John Carter's total domestic take was 73,078,100 and it added another 209,700,000 in foreign sales. On a production budget of 250 million it looks like a loss

or after all revenues added in (D.V.D., streaming, cable, etc.) perhaps an iffy break even.

 

These figures do no reflect promotion and marketing budgets.

 

Got my numbers from Box Office Mojo.

[operalover21]

Oz The Great And Powerful grossed 92,540,469 in it's first 5 days of domestic release and added another 69,900,000 in foreign dollars.

It will prove to be a profitable movie for Disney.

 

John Carter's total domestic take was 73,078,100 and it added another 209,700,000 in foreign sales. On a production budget of 250 million it looks like a loss

or after all revenues added in (D.V.D., streaming, cable, etc.) perhaps an iffy break even.

 

These figures do no reflect promotion and marketing budgets.

 

Got my numbers from Box Office Mojo.

 

With Hollywood math, it would probably need to make $500 million before it even started to think about making a profit. I'm guessing you will see a drop off of over 50% the next weekend. Word of mouth is BAD.

 

My guess is that John Carter made a fortune overseas in DVD sales. The Asian market is huge for that kind of crap.

[Gar1eth]

With Hollywood math, it would probably need to make $500 million before it even started to think about making a profit. I'm guessing you will see a drop off of over 50% the next weekend. Word of mouth is BAD.

 

My guess is that John Carter made a fortune overseas in DVD sales. The Asian market is huge for that kind of crap.

 

I saw John Carter on DVD with a friend. It was actually pretty good.

 

Gman

[jackhammer91406]

I saw John Carter on DVD with a friend. It was actually pretty good.

 

Gman

 

Other views on John Carter:

 

http://www.companyofmen.org/showthread.php?86076-John-Carter

 

[Gar1eth]

I saw John Carter on DVD with a friend. It was actually pretty good.

 

Gman

 

Other views on John Carter:

 

http://www.companyofmen.org/showthread.php?86076-John-Carter

 

 

In the words of Mr. Bartles and Mr. James, "Thank you for your support!!!"

 

 

[video=youtube_share;w3LkWVqYecE]

 

Gman

[Diverdan]

I saw John Carter the other night on cable... it was fine for what it was, and I must say that sitting at home in my favorite recliner with a beer and popcorn certainly made it even more enjoyable. I think it had too much hype and it is really just a good old escape fantasy, where the good guy does win out in the end. Don't try to make it more than it is, and I agree too that it will probably do well in the Asian markets.

[uwsman2]

I also thought John Carter was not as bad as the critics said.... I saw it in the theater the week it opened and found it entertaining and even, at times, imaginative, and the actor playing John Carter was so hot (and so undraped much of the time) that this made up for the shortcomings in the plot and the acting. Indeed, I bought the DVD and had a ball watching it again.

[operalover21]

I also thought John Carter was not as bad as the critics said.... I saw it in the theater the week it opened and found it entertaining and even, at times, imaginative, and the actor playing John Carter was so hot (and so undraped much of the time) that this made up for the shortcomings in the plot and the acting. Indeed, I bought the DVD and had a ball watching it again.

 

Thank god I downloaded it for free ... or I would have felt that was $12.50 wasted. My expectations for it were so low that I, too, probably didn't think it was half bad ... but if it were not for those expectations I would have thought it one of the worst movies of the year (like Beasts, Django, and Magic Mike) .... after awhile, I just tried to focus on Taylor Kitsch's body. Long hair isn't my thing but what a body!

 

I also suffered through JAVA HEAT the other night just to spend a few minutes staring at Kellan Lutz. What a body but what a bad actor and the movie was shit.

[Gar1eth]

I also thought John Carter was not as bad as the critics said.... I saw it in the theater the week it opened and found it entertaining and even, at times, imaginative, and the actor playing John Carter was so hot (and so undraped much of the time) that this made up for the shortcomings in the plot and the acting. Indeed, I bought the DVD and had a ball watching it again.

 

I have to say again--what shortcomings in plot and acting. It was a science fiction movie based on a book written in 1912 with elements of subsequent books thrown in. I thought the plot and acting were fine. The special effects were great. Ok--it was not Reds or Apocalypse Now--but you know, I found much of Reds boring--and I wasn't that thrilled with Apocalypse Now. So sue me--I'm a low brow.

 

Gman

[Toulouse]

Gman, I tend to agree with you. I saw the movie with several friends (i.e. "a bunch of old queens") this past weekend. Most of us were thoroughly entertained. Ok, so it's not the greatest movie of all time by any stretch of imagination, but it was enjoyable and entertaining nonetheless.

[operalover21]

I have to say again--what shortcomings in plot and acting. It was a science fiction movie based on a book written in 1912 with elements of subsequent books thrown in. I thought the plot and acting were fine. The special effects were great. Ok--it was not Reds or Apocalypse Now--but you know, I found much of Reds boring--and I wasn't that thrilled with Apocalypse Now. So sue me--I'm a low brow.

 

Gman

 

Thank god, it wasn't REDS -- an interminable bore and 3 plus hours looking at the most depressing people on earth. Sadly, I'd gladly watch JOHN CARTER again instead of REDS. But good plotting in JOHN CARTER? Really? That was the dumbest, most incomprehensible plot since, well, PROMETHEUS!

[operalover21]

Gman, I tend to agree with you. I saw the movie with several friends (i.e. "a bunch of old queens") this past weekend. Most of us were thoroughly entertained. Ok, so it's not the greatest movie of all time by any stretch of imagination, but it was enjoyable and entertaining nonetheless.

 

Considering there have been 4 or 5 movies being dicussed here, mind telling us which one you're referring to?

[+ WilliamM]

Ok--it was not Reds or Apocalypse Now--but you know, I found much of Reds boring--and I wasn't that thrilled with Apocalypse Now. So sue me--I'm a low brow.

 

I watch the revised, longer version of Apocalypse Now several times a year. It's certainly not the most realistic movie about Vietnam (that would be, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, or even Casualties of War), but there is something about the journey up the river, the music, the maybe real French colonalists that really gets to me in Apocalypse Now...only to be overwhelmed by the excesses of Marlon Brando's performances. I am not a big fan of The Dear Hunter, although the acting is first rate.

[operalover21]

I watch the revised, longer version of Apocalypse Now several times a year. It's certainly not the most realistic movie about Vietnam (that would be, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, or even Casualties of War), but there is something about the journey up the river, the music, the maybe real French colonalists that really gets to me in Apocalypse Now...only to be overwhelmed by the excesses of Marlon Brando's performances. I am not a big fan of The Dear Hunter, although the acting is first rate.

 

It is a very operatic experience. Coppola is an artist. I think it's a very fine movie.