Movie Review: Oz The Great and Powerful

Disney just loves their tent poles.  Their live action films that can make tons of money if handled just right.  It has become a grand tradition for the company to take a well known property, such as a theme park ride or a beloved story, and create big budget blockbuster films out of them.  It's kind of what they do now.  Those movies are also usually not so great.

But every now and then, you catch lightning in a bottle and end up with something like Pirates of the Caribbean, a film that is loathed by critics but loved by audiences.  And when that success hits, it hits big.  Such was the case with 2010's Alice in Wonderland, which ended up making just over a billion dollars.  Success like that is hard to ignore so it's only natural that Disney would try to apply a similar formula to another classic tale and try to get the same result.

The result?  Oz The Great and Powerful, a prequel to classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and, to a lesser degree, the book it was based on.  Not to be confused with the musical Wicked, this film tells a very different back story of how the stage was set for Dorothy's adventures in the land of Oz.  Oscar Diggs, known better by his stage name of Oz, is a circus magician and con man.  He knows he's not the most upstanding individual in Kansas, but he dreams of one day achieving greatness rivaling or even surpassing his idols Harry Houdini and Thomas Edison.  One tornado later, Oz finds himself in a whimsical and widescreen world like he's never seen before.  This land is also known as Oz, and according to a witch named Theodora, they've been waiting for a mystical wizard to appear and save the day.  Before he knows it, Oscar is caught up in an adventure much bigger than he bargained for...

Oz's origin story is surprisingly clever.  Not only does it provide a back story for many of our favorite characters, such as the Wizard, Glinda, and the Wicked Witch, but it also mirrors the original story in many ways, both in terms of plot structure and even visuals at times.  Despite telling a rather different tale than the original film, many of the same plot devices are employed here, creating a strong sense of continuity.  Despite the fact that Disney does not own the original Wizard of Oz, and therefore had to avoid direct references for copyright reasons, there are many nods to the 1939 film scattered throughout Oz The Great and Powerful, some subtle and some surprisingly overt.

However, Oz does have it's fair share of new ideas and characters to meet.  Oscar picks up a pair of traveling companions during his adventures.  First, there's Finley, a flying monkey bellhop who ends up owing Oscar a life debt.  Voiced by Zach Braff, Finley's brand of humor will likely come off as love it/hate it to most viewers though, for what it's worth, I found him to be pretty entertaining.

Also along for the ride is China Girl, a young china doll voiced by Joey King.  China Girl proves to be one of the more memorable characters in the film, switching between sweet and fragile in one scene to fierce and determined the next.  While Finley is mostly reduced to comic relief, China Girl's character develops throughout the film, making her a standout among the cast.  As the obvious parallels for the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion, both Finley and China Girl hold their own nicely.  Several other characters join the mix later in the film as well, and also provide some clues to the origins of characters like the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.

And, indeed, Oz does serve as a fine prequel to the original film.  If there is one major fault I noticed, it's that the plot twists and developments do tend to happen rather abruptly.  Oz takes a while to get going, but once the plot does kick into gear, it suddenly makes a beeline for the climax, which is a little jarring.  Outside of Oscar's journey to become the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, character arcs for the familiar Oz characters are also rather underdeveloped.  A few major plot twists happen rather suddenly and with little explanation.  The movie assumes familiarity with these characters' personalities and motives and doesn't always explain things clearly. It gets away with it for the most part but the pacing suffers at times.

Oz does manage to impress from a visual standpoint.  The Land of Oz presented here is massive, colorful, beautiful, whimsical, but also a little dark and threatening at times.  The visual effects are largely top notch throughout the film.  There were a few more jump scares and flashy 3D sequences than I would prefer, but not too many.  There are a few obvious moments where objects or characters are thrown at the screen just for the sake of the 3D effect, but it never feels too gimmicky.  The score, composed by Danny Elfman, fits the world of Oz perfectly, and is a treat to listen to throughout the movie.

In the film, Oscar struggles between wanting to be a good man or a great one.  Oz The Great and Powerful may not be a great film, but it most certainly is a good film.  It's exactly what one would hope for from a origin story to the 1939 film, and it also tells a compelling narrative of its own.  And, in my opinion, it's a much better origin story than Wicked, as it connects much more closely to The Wizard of Oz.  The characters are likable and fun, the villains are wicked and scary, and the visuals and audio never disappoint.  It's probably not going to be Disney's next Pirates or Caribbean nor will it achieve the same classic status as its 1939 sequel, but Oz The Great and Powerful is still definitely worth a look.

Toy Review: Disney Parks Character Figurines

Have you ever wished you could visit Mickey Mouse and his friends all the time from the comfort of your own home without having to visit a Disney park?

Oh, wait, you haven't?  Um.  Well, have you ever wished you could have perfect little figurines of Mickey Mouse and his friends that look just like how they appear in the theme parks?  Then you are in luck, my friend!  Feast your eyes on the new Disney Parks character figurine set:

The Fab Five are represented in all their glory in this great new line of figurines straight from the Disney Parks.  They're all around the 5" range, though Pluto is considerably shorter since he's down on all fours and Goofy is much taller than the rest.  Each one comes on its own removable stand with pegs that snap into their feet.  They also have a cardboard backdrop of sorts that showcases the character's "autograph" with Cinderella Castle on one side and Sleepy Beauty Castle on the reverse side.  The figures are made of a rubbery plastic, but the insane level of detail and overall high quality of the sculpts and paint application ensures that they feel like a notch above basic toys and more like collectable display pieces.  Let's take a look at each one individually, starting with the main mouse himself...

Mickey Mouse:

Mickey looks wonderful and he's definitely my favorite of the five.  The level of detail is outstanding here.  Every little part of his tuxedo is perfectly detailed and his pose conveys lots of personality.  There's a much greater level of subtle detailing here than you might notice at first, such as the fact that Mickey has a slight outline painted around his eyes and a his cheeks are a bit rosy colored.  He really is identical to Mickey as he appears in the parks.  A couple of compromises had to be made for the details on some of these figures, but Mickey is perfect in every way.  If you get only one figure out of this set, make it this one!

Minnie Mouse:

Minnie looks pretty great too, as expected.  She's nicely posed and she looks just as good as Mickey when it comes to the more subtle details, such as her makeup.  That said, her precarious pose means that she can't stand up on her own.  She either must be on her stand or leaning against something.  For that reason, she's probably my least favorite of the bunch.  But as far as the likeness goes, she's still excellent.

Pluto:

At first glance, Pluto seems a bit less impressive than the other characters because he is so much shorter and less detailed.  But, in reality, he's just as well made as the rest of the set.  There are tons of great little wrinkles and folds molded into his design, which really helps give him a high level of realism.  Of course, the same is true of all the figures, but it's especially prominent with Pluto.  He really looks like a miniature version of the real deal!

Goofy:

Goofy is probably the most immediately impressive figure of the bunch simply because of how much larger he is than the others.  That said, of the five I'd say Goofy probably looks the least like the actual mascot character.  His eyes look to be a bit smaller and narrower compared to the real deal.  But, really, that's an extremely minor nitpick.  He's still pretty much perfect.  You're only going to notice if you're directly comparing him to a photograph and I only bring it up because the others are all so dead-on accurate.  Goofy is still very charming and lovable regardless!  Off the stand Goofy tends to tip over pretty easily, but he does stand on his own.

Donald Duck:

Donald is just overflowing with personality.  His pose is wonderful.  He's also nicely textured, giving his body a somewhat fuzzy and feathery appearance.  The slight outline painted around the eyes is especially prominent on Donald.  Somewhat like Pluto, Donald has fewer details to capture, but he still looks wonderful.  Next to Mickey, Donald is probably my favorite figure in this line...even if it does kind of look like he's talking on a cell phone!

Overall, Disney has completely knocked it out of the park with this line of figures.  They are perfect recreations of their theme park counterparts.  If you want to have a reminder of Walt Disney World or Disneyland on your desk or just a representation of your favorite character, you really can't go wrong with any of these figures.  Of course, they aren't really action figures and have no points of articulation.  However, their poses do a wonderful job of conveying each character's personality and the level of detail on each is amazing.  They make wonderful display pieces.  Out of all the toys and collectibles I own, these guys are undoubtedly my favorites!  At a fairly reasonable $12.95 each, I give the Fab Five my highest recommendation!

(And, for what it's worth, even though Disney Store sells both a "Walt Disney World" and "Disneyland" version of each figure on the website, they are completely identical.  The only difference is which side of the card is facing forward within the packaging.  Even the packaging itself is the same otherwise.  If one version is out of stock, just look for the other one.  You can easily flip the card over if you prefer the other castle.)

Review: Wreck-It Ralph

 Wreck-It Ralph has a rather thankless job.  As the villain of the classic arcade game "Fix-It Felix Jr."  it's Ralph's job to destroy an apartment building day in and day out, just so Fix-It Felix Jr. can show up with his magic hammer and save the day.  Over and over and over again.  For 30 years.  After all this time, Ralph is starting to question his profession a bit.  Just once, he'd like to be the one who nabs the shiny gold medal, the praise, the adoration, and the pie that Felix enjoys on a daily basis.  Just because he's the bad guy doesn't mean he's a bad guy, right?

But when Wreck-It Ralph abandons his game in search of his hero's welcome, he accidentally sets off a chain reaction of chaotic events that may ultimately threaten all the games in the arcade...

Well, obviously the first things I must discuss about this movie are the video game references.  Prior to its release, Wreck-It Ralph was frequently described as the "Who Framed Roger Rabbit? of video games."  Does it live up to that lofty goal?  Not quite, but that's not really a bad thing because that really isn't the type of film Wreck-It Ralph sets out to be.  Wreck-It Ralph primarily spends its time within the realms of three arcade video games purpose-made for this film which evoke lots of other games but are completely unique to the film's world.

That said, the first third of the film is absolutely crawling with cameos.  The oft-promoted bad guy support group scene is just the tip of the iceberg.  I suspect viewers will need to go frame-by-frame on the DVD for nearly the entire first act of the film to catch all the easter eggs.  There are all sorts of great little references to a remarkably large assortment of video games in this film.  Even a certain portly plumber, whose paycheck was apparently too high for even Disney to pay, gets his due early in the film in a couple of clever ways.  Once the main plot picks up the cameos take a backseat for the rest of the film, but there are still a handful of clever nods here and there if you're paying attention!

The character of Ralph really carries this film quite well.  Voiced by John C. Reilly, Ralph is lovable and endearing from the first moment he appears on-screen.  He's a very easy character to root for during his quest for acceptance.  The second primary character is Vanellope von Schweetz, a game glitch voiced by Sarah Silverman.  Vanellope takes a little while to warm up to at first, but the character is surprisingly complex and as the film progresses, Vanellope's character arc almost eclipses Ralph's as the primary focus of the film.  As unlikely as it seems at first, Ralph and Vanellope's friendship is actually the source of most of the film's heart and is quite well done.

Secondary characters Fix-It Felix Jr. and Sergeant Calhoun, voiced by Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch respectively, also consistently entertain whenever they appear on screen.  Felix serves as an obvious stand-in for Mario and Calhoun is essentially a mash-up of every first person shooter protagonist ever.  The bizarre romance that occurs between the two characters is a lot of fun to watch unfold.

The biggest thing that surprised me about Wreck-It Ralph, however, is the film's scope.  Despite having a relatively simple story, the scale of this film is huge.  A rule established early in the film is that characters who die outside of their own games can never regenerate, which add some higher stakes to the events of the film.  The various subplots and story arcs are cleverly woven together so that when all the puzzle pieces do finally come together in the end, the climax that unfolds in the third act is a massive, frantic, and epic sight to behold!  This a big movie!

Wreck-It Ralph comes after a wave of previous animated films that featured villains put in the protagonist role, but it manages to use clever story telling to set it apart from those earlier movies.  Thankfully, Wreck-It Ralph also resists the temptation of casting Fix-It Felix as the villain of the film.  Instead, it features a much more creative antagonist that is neither too obvious and predictable but also isn't completely out of left field when he is finally revealed.

If there are any complaints to be made about Wreck-It Ralph, they are fairly minor.  The kart-racing candy world of Sugar Rush is perhaps featured a bit too heavily in the film.  Several other game worlds are seen early on, but once the story enters Sugar Rush, that's primarily where the story stays from then on out.  The video game references and cameos pretty much stop here.  The resulting onslaught of candy puns and subtle product placements (Nesquik-sand!) are witty and clever, but seem a bit out of place within the video game focused context of the film.  Why would a kart racing feature all these brand names and candy characters that have little to do with the actual racing going on?

Beyond that, though, there is little bad to be found in Wreck-It Ralph.  The humor does stray a bit farther into potty humor territory than one might expect from a Disney film, but the lovable characters and compelling plot more than make up for it.  In the end, Wreck-It Ralph is one of Disney's best films to come out in years, and it doesn't rely too heavily on video game in-jokes to tell it's story.  The characters are very appealing and the frantic energy and huge scope of the story make it great fun all the way through.

The fact that Bowser appears in this film is just icing on the cake!