Where do I begin? How about at the beginning.
When my son and I sat down for the preview of this movie, I honestly had no idea what I was in for. I hadn’t seen a great deal of trailers or previews, but I knew that it had an amazing cast and the power of Disney behind it, so I felt confident.
Right from the first moments of the movie (in 3D no less!) I was impressed. The camera zooms into Sleeping Beauty’s castle in the first minute, and immediately you know you’re being whisked into the wonderful and magical world of Oz. I already felt like I was on the edge of my seat, and we were still finding out who made the movie!
The first scenes open in black and white, giving you a sense of an older time, but with 3D you feel as though you’re really right there, not removed. The setup for the characters and who they are happens in just the right way, bringing back memories of “The Wizard of Oz” without overwhelming you with correlations.
I can recall my mother telling me about how Dorothy’s opening of the door in Oz was the first time audiences saw color on the big screen, and I remember thinking about how awesome that would be. Thanks to Disney, I feel like I now have a sense of what that must have been like. When Oz first enters the land of Oz, it actually brought a tear or two. The sky, the trees, the flowers — it was almost overwhelming and I felt just as elated as I think Oz did in seeing the beauty in front of him. Not only that, but you almost feel as though you’re in the movie WITH him, and I nearly fell out of my seat when we were all going over a waterfall and plummeting down, down, down…
Another thing that really drew me in is that I truly fell in love with each of the characters. The monkey Finley was cracking my son and I both up all through the film, and I wished the china doll could come home with us. They became wonderful sidekicks to Oz in his adventure, and really made the movie what it was. Just like a certain tin man and scarecrow I remember.
As for the witches — there was good and there was evil, just as you’d want in an Oz movie. “Oz the Great and Powerful” gave us some of both, and even better, gave us the history on the Wicked Witch of the West. So many wonderful storylines tied together in the end, making all of us in the audience want to run home and watch “The Wizard of Oz” all over again. One thing that wasn’t present was the singing and dancing, but I didn’t miss it — I was too busy noticing the horses of a different color, the yellow brick road and someone who I’m pretty sure was Dorothy’s mother.
Without giving too much away, we laughed and we cried, and we swore that we’ll see it again in theaters so that my daughter can have the chance to see the beauty and the magic that we did. Please go and see “Oz the Great and Powerful.” You will NOT be disappointed!
Merrie is a writer for the Jen is on a Journey and you can also find her at her blog, Sleepless Mornings: “I’m the mother of two beautiful children, an Executive Assistant, a scrapbooker, a baker, and sometimes I’m even fun to be around!”
Early screening passes were offered to facilitate post, all opinions my own.
