After a four-year break following the best film about the most recent recession, Drag Me to Hell, Raimi returns with a Disney-backed reboot of the canonical fairytale. A prequel to the 1939 classic starring Judy Garland, we learn how Oz, the man behind the green curtain, came to this mystical land. Franco takes the lead as Diggs, a small-time swindling magician who finds himself transported from Kansas to the Land of Oz. Hailed as being the great Wizard of Oz, only the three witches—Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda—suspect he isn’t who he says he is. Nonetheless, he must try to help save Oz from the wicked witch and therein learn to be a better man (and magician).
The clip bespeaks of Raimi’s vibrant style, with electric colours and high-fantasy which verges on camp—they are traveling by bubble, after all. And yes, the flying monkeys are back.
