thoughts on Oz the Great and Powerful

I don't have a lot to say about this one other than that I liked it a lot. James Franco was really well-cast as Oz, a shady magician who finds himself mistaken for a wizard in the land of Oz. In this role, you have to believe that he is good deep down while also being somewhat suspicious of him for much of the movie, and I think he does this well. I have read some criticisms that the witches-- Evanora (Rachel Weisz), Theodora (Mila Kunis) and Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams)-- weren't particularly well-developed characters, and I can see that; we are supposed to believe that Theodora gives in to her latent evil tendencies because she is spurned by Oz, which doesn't make a lot of sense since she hasn't really known him that long, and he hasn't really done anything so terrible at the time she decides to become as heartless as Evanora knows she can be. They were all pretty fun characters, regardless-- Evanora is evil and power-hungry but kind of gets in over her head when she helps turn Theodora evil; Theodora gets to do the patented Wicked Witch of the West cackle and fly around on a broom; and Glinda is actually the most well-developed, seeing the good in Oz and encouraging him that it's enough to make the people of Oz believe he's the Wizard. It's also pretty clever how Oz and the others use their skills to outwit the evil witches.

Bottom line: fun performances, beautiful visuals, a good overall message. I had a good time.