The scariest part? The title seems to insinuate there may end up being more than just one in the series.
——-
“Legend’s of Oz: Dorothy’s Return” is an animated trip back to the land of Oz, rejoining many of our favorites from the original film and many new faces to meet along the way, well, if you can make it all the way through that is. Seriously, maybe the film should have stopped by the wizard’s office on the way to production for a little brain and heart upgrade. yeah, unfortunately there just isn’t much to like here. Which is really sad because it’s OZ, and I love Oz!
——-
In fact, if the movie works at all (which it really doesn’t) its that the environment is just so nostalgic. There’s something about those characters in that place that I really enjoy. It’s a world I would usually like to visit, and an imaginative universe with so many possibilities, which is why it’s so frustrating to see it bungled so badly on screen.
——–
Let’s start with the art style, which is probably the worst thing. The animation is way too crisp and defined. Nothing about this world feels real or organic. It makes it so when these characters are talking or singing that it doesn’t even look like the sound is coming from the right place. The graphical style is so bad that I couldn’t even drag my 9 year old along, who told me, and I quote, “That movie looks awful, they should have spent more time on it”. And this is a kid who is endlessly fascinated by old pokemon episodes. The movie just feels like it would be more at home as an old TV special than a feature length film on the big screen. Plus the voice talent just doesn’t fit. Don’t get me wrong, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Kelsey Grammer are all great vocal talents, but they just don’t work as the scarecrow, tinman, and lion. And sure Leah Michelle can belt notes like no ones business, but could you have at least written her one good song in the entire movie to really stretch her chops? Again it’s not a performance issue as much as it is a casting issue. They simply got the wrong people. The only one they kind of got right was Martin Short as the jester villain, but even then his performance is so varied and out of sync that it ultimately falls short as well. And we haven’t even begun to talk about how contrived and forced the plot feels along with it’s mandatory real world bookends. In all seriousness, can we find out who has the rights to this and just take them away, is that legal? Just say, You ruined Oz, you don’t deserve it, we’re giving it all to Disney. Which, by the way, you know things are bad when I start begging for more James Franco.
——–
When it’s all finally over, Legends of Oz should have been released straight to DVD, at least then the movie could serve a purpose, you know like a coaster, or tiny frisbee. For me, no amount of nostalgia for Oz can help bring this animated train wreck past a D
——–
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? I also have reviews out this week of the Seth Rogen/Zack Efron comedy “Neighbors, and the Christian Comedy “Girl’s Night Out”. You can also Click the logo up here to go to the all new yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best movie with a prominent pet dog ever”. I’m going to go with the one that involves Will Smith. Got it yet? Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and please subscribe!