Actually better than I expected...

Okay, yes, this movie has a lot of big problems. And, can anyone tell me if I missed it, if they explained why the Wicked Witch was still alive and not melted by Dorothy when she was a little girl? Anyway, despite so many problems this film had, one of the worst being the inclusion of Frick and Frack (Sean Astin and Mr. Papagiorgio, wasted in this film, perhaps literally), I had a lot of fun watching it. I don't know, maybe it was because I went into it expecting the worst. And, I mean THE WORST. And I've seen some pretty bad, direct-to-video schlock. The makeup and effects in the opening of this film really made it look like I was watching some homemade thing on YouTube, somehow with Christopher Lloyd involved. But, watching it, even with all the writing, acting, and character problems, I enjoyed the experience. I can't help but feel SOME aspects of this were good and clever. Not enough to make it a good film, but enough to make it highly entertaining. It didn't hurt that Dorothy, despite the wig, was pretty cute (I do like that wide-eyed, innocent type) and so was the witch when she didn't look like a witch. I get all the complaints here. Most of them, anyway. The movie had a lot of issues. I even get the whole, "Why is Dorothy Hispanic?" thing. I'm half Spanish myself, so maybe I can provide some perspective on this. Some folks do go overboard with the political correctness, and some just want to see their ethnicity take over all the white-dominated film and TV roles (hey, it's true, just read the threads specifically about this), while the folks confused by this whole issue of casting other ethnicities in traditionally white roles have a good point sometimes, but are really bad about expressing it (they often sound racist when they make their argument, maybe because a lot of them are, I don't know). But, the fact is, some roles make more sense for "white" actors and some roles make more sense for other ethnicities. There's nothing wrong with knowing this and it is understandable to be puzzled when filmmakers let their political correctness get the better of them. However, I also can see why this actress got this role. I'm not saying she is the best actress in the world, but she was convincing as the naive, innocent type, and she was cute, too. However, it still WAS a bit weird, as Dorothy is a character that is supposed to be a typical Kansas farm girl from the turn of the century, and in the film she is from a white family as well. It's sorta like when Audrey in Vegas Vacation was Hispanic. Look, we're not stupid, so either the character is adopted or someone's step-kid now, or something. It changes the dynamic to some degree. It's not always a racist thing to say, "Why is that character Hispanic now?" or something like that. But, anyway, in truth, in this case, I didn't find it to be a huge issue, just a little bit weird. As some folks mentioned, it doesn't have to change this particular story. A story about a white little girl in the turn of the century would be very different than a story about a little girl of a different ethnicity, but as Dorothy's story is mostly about a visit to another world, it would be less of a problem. It is weird that she has two white parents though. Anyway, that's all I'll say on that issue. I don't know what was up with her wig. That bugged me more, ha. Cosplayers have better wigs.

One complaint people have made that I don't go along with though, is the whole, "Why do they keep doing Oz stories?" complaint. That is the lamest, most pathetic gripe a person can make! "Why do they keep doing Wonderland stories?" "Why do they keep making Dracula movies?" "Why do we need another Superman movie?" Look, it's because people like them! Maybe not you, but OTHER PEOPLE. No one is forcing YOU to watch it. There are so many different ways you can do any one story, that this is a question no one should ever ask. And, in most cases, one can always argue that we still haven't gotten a "proper version" of the story.

Anyway, that's all I've got to say. In general, I thought this film had enough good points to make for a fun night's viewing. I liked the winged monkeys. I thought the witch was cool. I even liked some of the story elements, though most of it was a mess. It was a bad movie for the most part, but I expected it to be so much worse that it actually was enjoyable to me. Go in with the worst expectations, and maybe you too won't hate it in the end.