Sometime before the rainbow

MANILA, Philippines - Taking on a film as iconic as the 1939 fantasy adventure The Wizard of Oz via an update would have been a foolhardy project. While a Broadway adaptation does beckon (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Wizard of Oz the Musical just opened in Toronto); and in the past, we had The Wiz which gave the fairytale an R&B spin — Disney’s spring release, Oz the Great and Powerful (OGP) wisely takes the origins/prequel route to give us a fresh take on the series of fairytales penned by L. Frank Baum in the early 1900s.

Meant to have occurred some 25 years before Dorothy and Toto left Kansas, OGP’s premise is to give us the lowdown on how the Wizard came to be — how Kansas circus magician/con man Oscar Diggs would be spirited to the land of Oz, and there “find himself,” if not through greatness, than by goodness.

Directed by Sam Raimi, who recently helmed the Spider-Man trilogy, the new film is an homage of sorts to the original 1939 film. The real world of 1904 is shot in black and white, converting to vibrant color when the cyclone transports Oscar, nicknamed Oz, to his namesake fantasy world. With 3D brilliance and modern technology, the world of Oz recalls Fantasia, the worlds of Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. Once again, the Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City come back to life, populated by Munchkins, vicious flying baboons, and what story-wise, can aptly be called the Clash of the Witches. There are three witches in this prequel — Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams — and James Franco as Oscar Diggs lands smack in the middle of the struggle for dominance of the Emerald City. We are also treated to the origins tale of how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be.

There’s quite a lot of prefiguring of what we were treated to in the 1939 masterpiece, such as travel by bubble, why the Wizard appears as a disembodied presence, and the predilection of the Munchkins to sing and dance. A solid storyline is what ultimately makes this film such a success, with the prospect of it becoming a franchise series very much a possibility — after all, there is still so much to relay before Dorothy enters the picture. Franco and Kunis would have to be the standouts casting-wise. Franco, for his pitch-perfect rendition of the reluctant hero, a trickster who is only too painfully aware of his weakness and shortcomings, while harboring innate goodness and still hoping to achieve some form of greatness. Kunis for the transformation she has to undergo within the film. And if we don’t have the Tin Man, Scarecrow or Lion in this prequel, China Girl and Finley, the simian assistant to Oscar, are wonderful creations that we’ll remember this film for.

Beyond the special effects and the modern rendition of Oz, it’s the heart in the story that turns this film into something more than a tribute to the original. Adventure and fantasy ultimately take a back seat to the tale of how sometimes, the least likely can be thrust into situations of heroism and valor — truly an Oz-some comeback!