Caution, small spoilers ahead.

Oz The Great and Powerful centers around the character known as Oz. Throughout the movie, he finds his way into the heart of about five girls, even more impressive than 007’s work in Skyfall. The first 20 minutes or so of the film is set in black and white in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Then, as one would imagine, the movie springs to life, color, and widescreen video when Oz arrives in the magical land of… Oz.

While the story is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, the cinematography seems to be a prequel of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Strike that, it’s more like a rendition of a found footage film compiled by a novice film student looking to try out Final Cut Pro X. Motion tracking issues are the norm while elementary camera shots long since abandoned by professionals abound. Also, the intern that did the background CGI wasn’t paid enough. This was the worst aspect of the movie for me.

Okay, not really. I lied. The worst part was that the best looking witch turned into the ugly green one. That was terrible. But she was evil so I guess she deserved it.

But in the end, Oz The Great and Powerful, provides a satisfactory prequel; it keeps a consistent storyline that doesn’t conflict with the classic Wizard of Oz while expanding on the backstories of the characters. But it also featured distracting visuals at times and a truly unfortunate casting error wherein Mia Kunis was accidentally cast as a villain.

7.4/10