Taking advantage of cheap cinema day, having seen the trailer a couple of months prior, Oz: The Great and Powerful was next to see on my list. The film tells the story of Oscar (Oz) Diggs, played by James Franco, being transported from Kansas to Oz, and then of his journey through Oz to become the great and powerful Wizard of Oz.

Opting for 3D and in 'extremescreen', it was certainly a visual journey through the land of Oz. Appreciating an early scene with a phenakistoscope, from the tornado scene, to the flowers and the china girl, the animation and 3D were impressive. Particularly enjoying Finley the flying monkey, Michelle Williams and the china girl stole the show for me. Drawing me in, I thought the china girl was amazing. The tribute to the wizard of Oz was well done, especially the contrast from black and white to colour.

I did however struggle with Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis's latter scenes and spent time trying to fit the story into the 'wizard of Oz', 'wicked' timeline! On researching this on my return I was surprised to learn that in the book the wicked witches did not have names. Maybe intentional, I did not understand why with Oz being such am impressively created land, the emerald city looked so unrealistic. A little bit surprised at the plot (I thought it would be more about Oz himself), I felt the story could have matched the visuals better. One particular scene felt like the matrix stumbled into a fight with Voldemort and Harry Potter…

Leaving a little disappointed, it was still however an enjoyable 2 hours, I am glad to have seen it and the wonderful wizard of Oz is now on my reading list.