Oz the Great and Powerful (PG)

its so cool

Possibly as high as 1.5 cause of passable CGI, however overall too drawn-out cause the script is lacking, the acting somewhat unenthusiastic and it is a set-up for a sequel. Save £34- the outlandish price I paid for a couple of tickets on a Sunday night in West end.

Michelle Williams is really charming as Glinda and the opening black and white titles and the whirlwind are outstanding in 3D. The 3D is used with real effectiveness. But it's really just a continuity movie and with wretched dialogue. For a kids film, it's disappointingly sluggish and disappointingly Disney. The character of Oz hasn't been thought out and James Franco - looking beautiful throughout, despite the knock knees - is unconvincing as either a showman or a Lothario at the start. The film wants to make his reformation its heart but fails because the premise is sunk. It's not awful but it achieves comparatively little in the 2 hours its on.

... as far as a PG fantasy film featuring mostly human actors goes I liked it. If you've got kids in the 9-12 age bracket - if they're anything like the twelve year old boy I overheard commenting to his dad as they left - it's worth the price of admission. It was good to finally see Zac Braff in a mainstream film, and Mila Kunis is hot - green or not. Don't be put off by the review. It's basically a kids' film and from that point of view (rather than judging it on 'canon' and the films that came before) I think it works rather well.

Very poor and disappointing. The plot and characterisation is full of cliches and Franco as a lead is difficult to warm to. Kunis looks great in a pair of skin tight leather trousers but to no great surprise the American actress Williams, dressed in white, plays the heroine while the British Weisz conveniently dressed in black is the villainess. A cliche as tired and obvious as the film. Worth two stars, just.

If anything the review gives the film more credit than it deserves. This is a thoroughly disappointing film. It is like a supermodel, looks great and classy but is shallow and empty. Kunis takes over the mantle of pretty woman in unnecessarily tight leather trousers from Gemma Arterton in the recent Hansel and Gretel film. Franco as a lead is poor and difficult to warm to much like the film. Braff's flying monkey cum servant is no donkey from Shrek as a character. At my local Cineworld Disney had obviously splashed the cash from the marketing budget with yellow brick road and large displays. They probably realise it must do well this weekend if they are to get their money back. Don't bother with the 3D as apart from a few flying spears and monkeys coming out of the screen at you it isn't worth it and in places it is out of focus. Just to put the icing on the cake and to no great surprise Williams, the American Princess dressed all in white, plays the heroine to Weiss's black clad English villainess. A cliche as obvious as much of the rest of film. Just worth two stars.

There is going to be the inevitable comparison to the 1939 wizard of oz... even though oz the great the powerful comes from a different book written by L Frank Baum. There are actually 14 books in that series... but it won't matter... this movie will have to be great to pass muster - not just good. if it falls flat - forget about any more big productions of Oz... The original movie will cast a very long shadow over any attempt to match it. It will take genus to do it - and not sure Ramai or the writers are of that caliber.

Some people are saying that this is a remake and it isn't very good. It is not a remake of the original! It is a prequel, and if the trailer is anything to go by, it should be a good one. Modern day fantasy movies are always trying to use the latest technology and amaze the audience, and this is no different (With the Producer of Alice in Wonderland). Overall, I think it may do well.