Dorothy and the Witches of Oz (2011) Reviews

• You might have a good time, if you lower your expectations, then lower them again

  rocketXpert2012-08-18

  I doubted this film would be great, but my best case scenario was that it would at least be fun in a cheesy way. Even by those standards, I was let down. Maybe part of the problem is that I saw it on the big screen when it really feels like a direct to video movie. On the other hand, I don't think I could have asked for a better viewing experience, so I have to face the fact that the main problem is that it was just not very good. Things like "Wicked" and "Tin Man" have shown that there can be decent alternate takes on Oz, but this was not one of them, sadly. I think the filmmakers' hearts were in the right place, but this low-budget attempt at creating something with the look of a big-budget blockbuster ended up being kind of a cringe-inducing mess. I got a sinking feeling within the first moments as we're introduced to a CGI version of Oz that looks poor even compared to modern video games. But I don't watch independent movies for spectacle; I watch them for story and characters, and unfortunately, I found neither to be terribly engaging here. I might have cared about the plot if the movie had spent more time establishing the characters and their relationship to each other, but this presents something of a Catch-22: adding such scenes would have presumably made the movie longer and it already felt overly long. They must have padded it out beyond all reason in order to accommodate the miniseries format. I've seen complaints about wooden acting in this film. Any deficiencies there I am willing to at least partially blame on the directing and/or script. Even most of the name actors turn in rather unremarkable performances- the big exception being Mia Sara's manic Princess Langwidere. Among the lesser-known players, I thought Eliza Swenson was the most memorable as the manipulative literary agent. This is a movie I really wanted to like, so I wish I had more positive things to say about it. There are a couple nods to the MGM musical and a few more to the original Oz books, but I don't see this satisfying fans of either. Honestly, I would have a difficult time recommending "Dorothy and the Witches of Oz" to anyone. And I'm the sort of person who can often find redeeming qualities in movies that others might dismiss as simply terrible. I'm somewhat shocked that a sequel is supposedly in the works. Call me a hopeless optimist or just morbidly curious, but if that actually gets made, I'll most likely end up watching it as well, hoping that it might be better than this movie, which it would almost have to be.

• Kept Watching and Rewatching...

  neonboy6192012-05-05

  (the review contains spoilers, but you might want to read it anyway) Ooooh Witches of Oz. Where can I begin? I know very little of this production. My first impression was that it looked like it was made by a group of Oz Book fans who wanted to put a contemporary spin to the Oz books that wasn't as dark as Syfy's Tin Man. The story goes like this: Frank and Maude in the late 1800s move to Kansas with their daughter Dorothy Gale. Dorothy gets lost in a twister with her dog Toto. With Dorothy missing for days, her mother, Maude finds a crystal ball in her lost daughter's room that shows that Dorothy is fine. She is in a fantastical land called Oz. Through the crystal ball, Frank, Maude and their new daughter watch Dorothy as she remains ageless and has many heroic adventures in Oz. Frank is inspired and writes a series of books about Dorothy's adventures. The stories are passed on down to Frank's grandson's Henry, who eventually moves to the Kansas house with his wife Emily after Frank and Maude have died. In 1992, another twister hits. In the aftermath of that twister, Henry and Emily find a little girl asleep in front of their house. It's Dorothy. Dorothy grows up to believe that all she has experience in Oz was a dream. She writes a series of Oz sequel books that she feels are based off of her grandfather's classical books (which are now in public domain). She travels to New York to get her series of books published. She is not in Kansas anymore. Thus begins our story, which I think borrows a little bit from Frank Beddor's Alice in Wonderland re-imagining, Looking Glass Wars. That one needs to be a movie already. I was immediately pulled into the story, though layered and twisted it can be. By twisted, I don't mean sick and nasty, but crazy and windy. Like a twister. There are a whole lot of twists in this 2 1/2 hour Oz outing. Immediately, I fell in love with this new Dorothy, played here by Paulie Rojas. Paulie has these big wide expressive anime eyes that go perfect with this character. She is sweet, pleasant and very very easy to love. Some big names make some appearances. Lord of the Rings alumni Sean Astin and Billy Boyd appear. Christopher Loyd makes an appearance as The Wizard of Oz himself. Mia Sara makes an appearance as Langwidere, kinda. Langwidere is a Princess who has possession of many heads (Mombi from the Return to Oz movie was given this character trait). Mia Sara plays one of the heads. Sadly, she doesn't appear in the movie as often as someone like her should. I mean, come on, she was in Legend AND played Harley Quin in Birds of Prey. There are also many cameos from Oz characters that are rarely seen on film. Off the top of my head I remember seeing Ozma, Jack Pumpkinhead, Tic Tok, The Witch of the East in her full glory and Locasta the other good witch. I felt that the movie was borrowing a little bit from Gregory Macguire's Wicked in their characterization of The Witch of the West, but oddly enough, that drew me in even more. A major plus for me was that her look was based off of how L. Frank Baum describes her in the books while still retaining her iconic imagery that was established by MGM. The movie is not without it's flaws, but the spirit of the piece and the pacing of the film really kept me captivated. Though the story can be a bit topsy turvy at times, that just means I get to watch it again and uncover more layers, and I love a movie that lets me do that. http://neonboy619.blogspot.com

• You wanna Root for the Wicked Witch

  chaingangsoldier232012-04-15

  When I found out about this movie I was only going to see it because the wrestler Al Snow was in it as the Gnome King. I was extremely happy that the movie was phenomenal! My friend and I were lucky to have been able to meet Eliza Swenson and Barry Ratcliffe as well as the director Lee Scott. This movie is completely different and better than Wizard of Oz. There are surprises you don't see coming and it has such a great cast. In the end my friend and I were rooting for the wicked witch of the west because of how awesome! This is a must see and must own for any Oz fan. There is a great cast and the special effects are memorizing. This movie proves you don't need a major studio behind you to make an amazing movie!

• Family fun

  rachkee762012-07-11

  Great movie. I loved it. Definitely better than the sequel that was released in the 80's. I watched it over and over again. Quite a lot of talent in this movie Amazing. Brionne Davis was especially magnetic. It was wonderful. This movie tells the story of Dorthy as a grown up and the point of view is a great one. It also deals with her repressed memories. I found this an interesting angle for the movie and felt the writers and actors did an astounding job of keeping the movie flowing smoothly throughout. It was suspenseful and kept me interested the entire time. In a world where there are so many mundane movies that offer little to your mind or heart this was quite a feat and it is incredible.