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Rating: 3.6/5
Review: "Oz the great and powerful movie review"

Sam Raimi's latest movie is as usual as his other movies; colourful and entertaining. This looks a bit like his Spider-Man movies. It has some thrilling action, looks good and has loads of CGI. It is purely an entertaining adventure but I have to say that the runtime is a little too long. It could be trimmed to about 2 hours. With the mild problem of the runtime, this manages to still be a massively entertaining movie because of its light humour and brisk pace.

The story: The first 15-20 minutes are black and white and it is intentional. James Franco plays Oscar, a selfish magician in a circus. His morals are not very good and his character is not very likable. Once he gets into the magical Oz, the picture becomes vibrant and full with brimming colours. He meets a witch, Theodora (Mila Kunis) who thinks he is the real wizard who can save Oz from the wicked witch. He then meets a flying monkey, Finley and Theodora's sister, Evanora. Evanora tells him that in order to be the wizard of Oz, he has to take the wicked witch's wand. With his greed, Oscar sets on an adventure that will change his whole life. It has its fair share of action and thrills especially in the last half and hour where a magical showdown takes place in Oz. Sam Raimi's movies are not only about thrills and spectacle, his movies also have the characters' development and heart. In this, you will see Oscar developing from a selfish and greedy man into someone with courage and who is willing to fight for the greater good. Acting wise is okay. James did okay but not fantastic. Music wise is good. The CGI effects may be a little too overwhelming at times but most of the times, they are okay though a little too cartoonish.

Overall: It is worth a watch in cinema for family entertainment. It should be worth a watch in 3D as even when I watched it in 2D, some effects look good for 3D viewing. This is entertaining but it is not as good as Sam's other movies and it does have the potential to be something epic with the scale being used.

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