the wind went and pulled me in
11 Mar 2013 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
minkhollowSo. Oz the Great and Powerful.
It wasn't great, but it was good. I shook my head at some things, but absolutely loved some others. (NB: I have never read any of the books, so I can't compare this to book canon. I know Garland!Oz and Wicked, but these are three distinct wossnames here. Four if you count the musical.)
Trailers of note first. Iron Man 3: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. I won't be able to handle it. After Earth: Refreshing to see two black people carry an action movie, but it's not quite my cup of tea. Lone Ranger:
Dear Disney, would it have killed you to hire a Native American actor instead of Johnny Depp? I mean, seriously. It's not like there was a big-name movie franchise that hired Native American actors or any...
Oh, wait. And Twilight's done filming.
So the effects were absolutely gorgeous, especially the transition from the black-and-white beginning segment to Oz. (Also: THIS IS WHY I FUCKING HATE TORNADOES. I mean, I knew there'd be one, but seriously. They drove home how nasty they can be.)
Things I shook my head at: Ladies waiting for a man to save them, the fact that there was a prophecy at all (why is it when there are prophecies everyone sits there until the Chosen One shows up???), Theodora... just... Theodora. I thought right after she showed up 'if she's dead or green by the end of this I'll be VERY disappoint.'
Well, folks: I am VERY disappoint. Doubly so because she's Green of a Broken Heart (and a little 'help' from her sister).
Things I love:
*You have to admit, staging a Grand Battle when most of the participants are forbidden to kill anyone is epic. They way they went about it was epic win.
*The little china girl; WHY DID SHE NOT GET A NAME. She's all 'I may be made of breakable material but I am helping your asses, deal with it - oh hey, you need to get an important thing to the Emerald City and the shortest route's through the poppy field? I AND MY LACK OF NOSTRILS WILL HANDLE THAT.' She's the best ever.
*Glinda was pretty epic herself. Given that she's defensive-magic focused, I kiiinda see why she didn't take matters into her own hands? (BUT WHY NOT THEODORA. I'm digressing.)
*Oscar's character arc was visible in his circus act. Even though he was complaining about the pitiful take they got for putting on the show at all, when the girl said 'make me walk again' and her parents said 'here is ALL OUR MONEY,' he didn't take it.
If he'd taken it, he wouldn't have been the kind of person Oz needed; he just couldn't see that in himself.
In conclusion: Yes, there are problems. But it's a good story and it has some wonderful moments in it.
It wasn't great, but it was good. I shook my head at some things, but absolutely loved some others. (NB: I have never read any of the books, so I can't compare this to book canon. I know Garland!Oz and Wicked, but these are three distinct wossnames here. Four if you count the musical.)
Trailers of note first. Iron Man 3: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. I won't be able to handle it. After Earth: Refreshing to see two black people carry an action movie, but it's not quite my cup of tea. Lone Ranger:
Dear Disney, would it have killed you to hire a Native American actor instead of Johnny Depp? I mean, seriously. It's not like there was a big-name movie franchise that hired Native American actors or any...
Oh, wait. And Twilight's done filming.
So the effects were absolutely gorgeous, especially the transition from the black-and-white beginning segment to Oz. (Also: THIS IS WHY I FUCKING HATE TORNADOES. I mean, I knew there'd be one, but seriously. They drove home how nasty they can be.)
Things I shook my head at: Ladies waiting for a man to save them, the fact that there was a prophecy at all (why is it when there are prophecies everyone sits there until the Chosen One shows up???), Theodora... just... Theodora. I thought right after she showed up 'if she's dead or green by the end of this I'll be VERY disappoint.'
Well, folks: I am VERY disappoint. Doubly so because she's Green of a Broken Heart (and a little 'help' from her sister).
Things I love:
*You have to admit, staging a Grand Battle when most of the participants are forbidden to kill anyone is epic. They way they went about it was epic win.
*The little china girl; WHY DID SHE NOT GET A NAME. She's all 'I may be made of breakable material but I am helping your asses, deal with it - oh hey, you need to get an important thing to the Emerald City and the shortest route's through the poppy field? I AND MY LACK OF NOSTRILS WILL HANDLE THAT.' She's the best ever.
*Glinda was pretty epic herself. Given that she's defensive-magic focused, I kiiinda see why she didn't take matters into her own hands? (BUT WHY NOT THEODORA. I'm digressing.)
*Oscar's character arc was visible in his circus act. Even though he was complaining about the pitiful take they got for putting on the show at all, when the girl said 'make me walk again' and her parents said 'here is ALL OUR MONEY,' he didn't take it.
If he'd taken it, he wouldn't have been the kind of person Oz needed; he just couldn't see that in himself.
In conclusion: Yes, there are problems. But it's a good story and it has some wonderful moments in it.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-11 11:16 am (UTC)I loved the Oz books growing up, probably more so than the movie, especially with how there were so many strong women. From the trailer I saw for this, it really give the indication that the women in the movie were basically begging the MC to save them because they couldn't do it themselves. Despite being supposedly really powerful or something. Is this, er, an accurate representation of how the movie handles things? Or are the women more active and powerful in their own right? I can maybe get past waiting around if they actually do shit, but after seeing Jack the Giant Slayer with the completely helpless shrieking damsel that they evidently thought that putting in a suit of armor = kick ass chick... I have used up my patience for the month for that kinda thing. ;)
no subject
Date: 2013-03-11 03:19 pm (UTC)The witches in particular do a lot of 'so the prophecy ~must be truuuuuuue~!' when they each first meet Oscar, which first of all, why'd they all have to wait for a guy to save them (especially you, Theodora, MOST FRUSTRATING CHARACTER ARC), and second, why do prophecies mean everyone else gets to sit on their ass and do nothing.
On the other had, I think Evanora's mostly doing it out of her own machinations; she's had a pretty cushy life and tries manipulating Oscar into helping her keep it. And like I said in the post, Glinda's more defense-focused, and taking that 'forbidden to kill' thing seriously. Why she stuck out the exile I don't know, but. Theodora, I think, was just too blind to the reality of the situation to fix it herself, up till she was Green of a Broken Heart; that's the one I forgive the writers for not at all.
The china girl gets a pass in needing help when she first shows up, as she literally needs her legs glued back on. But after that, she takes quite a bit of agency, as much as she can when she's that fragile. She actually helps get shit done, she's the one who convinces Oscar he can do what needs doing, she helps plan the Grand Battle (so does Glinda).
So: Theodora does the most after she's green, Evanora's trying to keep her own position, Glinda's pretty much the general in the Grand Battle, is the feeling I got, and the biggest badass in the group is made of china. Buuuuuut the witches were in a holding pattern until Oscar got there, for no apparent reason. And did they have to, with the kissing? Really?