Ever wondered how the Wizard came to be? Take a look at how Oz was before Dorothy and her red shoes.

Sorry to be a bit late, but life has been crazy. I finally got to go see Disney’s Oz The Great & Powerful yesterday, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. I went in thinking that it was going to be wonderful, then was really disappointed by the beginning, only to be completely mind boggled and fall in love with the movie. So, let’s get into it.

The movie stars James Franco as the Wizard, and Mila Kunis as Theodora, Michelle Williams as Glinda and Rachel Weisz as Evanora, the witches. Now, I really hope you’ve all seen the original Wizard of Oz. How can you not have? So I’m going to continue this review as if you have. If you haven’t – you suck and you need to go download it immediately. The beginning starts off black and white and very strange. And then a tornado hits. At this point I turn to my friend and lay out pretty much the entire movie. I say, “OMG! He’s going to get sucked up and go to Oz and then one of the witches is going to turn green, probably Mila Kunis and then he’s going to get all set up as the Wizard of Oz for when Dorothy comes and ohmygod what is happening why is that air balloon drunk?” And I was right. This movie laid out an answer for every single question anyone could have about the original movie. How did the Wizard get there? Who was the other witch that got killed by the house? How did he convince people he was a wizard if he wasn’t? Even questions that I didn’t know I had. The entire thing was so visually appealing, I could have licked the screen. The supporting characters had some of the best moments. Zach Braff as the flying monkey Finley was hysterical, and Joey King’s portrayal of the china girl? Sassy and cute. I like that.

There were so many parallels, and they set it up for a sequel, so I’ll be interested in seeing if they go along with that. If not, it really should have ended with Dorothy’s house falling on Rachel Weisz. Turns out that the Wizard is also from Kansas, so $5 that Dorothy ends up being the magician’s assistant from the beginning of the movie. Just a thought.

Oz The Great & Powerful is in theaters now!!