This week we look at two big-budget 2013 fantasy films, Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful and Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer, a trio of Stephen King-based TV miniseries, plus a host of animated offerings including the first U.S. release of a classic 1989 anime adaptation of Kipling’s The Jungle Book.Theatrical Movies
Though it was released last week, ICv2 didn’t receive its copy of Oz: The Great and Powerful (Disney, “PG,” $29.99, BD/Combo $44.99) in time for last week’s column. Directed by Sam Raimi, who helmed the original Spider-Man Trilogy, this new Oz film is a prequel to the 1939 film, and like Victor Fleming’s classic, Raimi’s movie features a black-and-white prequel set in Kansas before the carnival con man Oscar Diggs is deposited via tornado in the Technicolor land of Oz. While Raimi’s film has earned nearly half a billion dollars worldwide, with a cost of $215 million, it has barely broken even. It should be noted that it took years for MGM to turn a profit on the 1939 Wizard of Oz, so Raimi’s film’s inability to duplicate the success of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland shouldn’t be seen as a failure.
Actually there is a lot to like in this earnest tale of a con man’s redemption including excellent performances from James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, and Rachel Wiesz. The black-and-white prologue scenes are especially compelling, and at times the Maxfield Parrish-influenced skies of Oz are breathtaking. Unfortunately Raimi also feels the necessity to pay homage to the primary-hued kitsch of the 1939 original’s stage bound sets, which worked reasonably well in that film’s quasi-musical context, but here occasionally lead to lapses in visual tone. Raimi wisely doesn’t attempt to recreate the magic of MGM’s talented tunesmiths as Franco quickly puts an end to a Munchkin anthem that was no threat to “Follow the Yellow Brick Road,” say nothing of “Over the Rainbow.” Danny Elfman’s score, which is the subject of one of the disc’s most interesting special feature documentaries, will please the composer’s fans and does often bring some considerable elegance to the proceedings.
On the other side of the ledger are the occasionally ponderous special effects scenes, the too obvious 3-D tropes, and the thundering special effects-filled battle sequences that mark so many of today’s blockbusters with a common and ultimately debilitating brand. Everything tends to be amped-up in these summer tentpoles—the flying monkeys of the original become bigger, nastier flying baboons. The flying baboons along with the film’s occasional shocks and thrills may well make this movie too scary for young children. This film earns its "PG" rating and parents will need to decide whether to show it to sensitive youngsters or wait a year or two. Raimi brings a fair amount of visual flair and plenty of respect for the franchise to this prequel, and the results--though occasionally undermined by a surfeit of special effects and roller-coaster/thrill ride elements--are basically positive.
With the Oz movie, Snow White and the Huntsmen, and now Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer (New Line, “PG-13,” $28.98, BD/Combo $35.98, 3-D BD/Combo $44.95) no one can accuse Hollywood of avoiding fantasy films in 2013. Singer’s film with its computer-generated beanstalks and giants can feel a bit lifeless at times, though Nicholas Hoult gives a good account of himself in the title role. But Singer’s movie didn’t find much favor with American audiences as it earned just $64.1 million domestically and, because of its considerable cost, this fairy tale-based film is currently considered one of the major "bombs" of 2013, at least so far..
Art movie fans have several new choices this week including Dustin Hoffman’s initial directorial effort, an adaptation of Ronald Harwood’s 1999 play Quartet (Anchor Bay, “PG-13,” #29.97, BD $39.99) featuring a great cast “of a certain age” in a bittersweet tale set in a British retirement home for musicians. The stellar cast makes up for the stagebound nature of the narrative, but the appeal of this film is likely limited to those primarily older viewers who found The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel entrancing.
A grittier kind of art house fare can be found in Korean director Park Chan-wook’s American debut in Stoker (Fox, “R,” $22.98, BD $29.99), a film about a girl (Mia Wasilkowska), who has just lost her father in a tragic accident, and her strange uncle (Matthew Goode). Their relationship hearkens back to such Hitchcock classics as Shadow of a Doubt, though there is an even more sinister element at play here, namely the girl’s increasing fascination with a man who clearly has ulterior motives.
Those connoisseurs of crap who cruise the bottom looking for the “worst movie of the year,” should consider Movie 43 (Fox, “R,” $29.98, BD $39.99), a rude and crude anthology black comedy featuring 14 different stories each helmed by a different director. The movie was shot over a period of years and lay fallow on the shelf before finally getting its release earlier this year. Movie 43 was so bad that it could manage only a 4% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
TV On DVD
It’s a good week for fans of Stephen King with three mini-series based on King’s work released in conjunction with the upcoming CBS debut of the King-based Under the Dome. This week’s DVD releases include very reasonably priced editions of Stephen Kings The Golden Years (Paramount, 236 min., $18.99), a seven-part Twin Peaks-inspired offering that aired on CBS in 1991, Stephen King’s The Stand (Paramount, 359 min., $18.99), the post-apocalyptic medical thriller that aired on ABC in 1994, and Stephen King’s The Langoliers (Paramount, 179 min., $18.99), a 1995 aviation fantasy saga that aired on ABC.
Contemporary releases of particular interest include the often hilarious Comedy Central slacker series Workaholics: Season 3 (Comedy Central, $19.99, BD $22.99), Rectify: The Complete First Season (Anchor Bay, 272 min., $29.98), the premiere release from the gripping new series from the producers of Breaking Bad about a death row inmate freed by DNA evidence trying to reclaim his life, the Dana Delany-starring crime drama Body of Proof: The Complete 3rd Season (Disney, 559 min., $39.99), and Wilfed: The Complete 2nd Season (Warner Bros., $29.98 BD $39.98), the American version (starring Elijah Wood) of the dark philosophical Australian comedy series.
Additional animated offerings include the single-disc Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Vol.1, Good Croc, Bad Croc (Fox, 154 min., $14.98) and the double-disc Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Season 2, Part 2: Spooky Stampede (Warner Bros., $19.97).
Other kid-targeting series include the classic Jim Henson produced Fraggle Rock: The Complete Season 4 (Gaiam, $29.98), plus Disney Channel staples Austin & Ally Vol.1: All the Write Moves! (Disney, 162 min., $15.99), Shake It Up, Vol. 1: Mix It Up, Laugh It Up (Disney, 158 min., $15.99) and Good Luck Charlie, Vol. 1: Enjoy the Ride (Disney, 156 min., $15.99).
Anime
It’s a very light week for anime releases with only one North American DVD debut, the Kill Me Baby Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “13+,” 325 min., $59.98), a 13-episode 2012 series from J.C. Staff that is based on a four-panel manga by Kaduho about the high school lives of a female assassin, her slow-witted friend, and a female ninja.
This week’s other releases are re-priced editions of previously released material including the Saiyuki Complete Collection (Aesir Holdings, “14+,” 1250 min., $49.98), a 50-episode series produced by Studio Pierrot in 2001 and 2002. This is a version of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West that is based on the manga by Kazuya Minekura.
The other real bargain is the Chrome Shelled Regios Complete Series (Funimation, “17+,” 600 min., $29.98), which contains all 24 episodes of the 2009 post-apocalyptic science fiction series from Zexcs.
Tom Flinn
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of ICv2.com.
