Just about anyone could of made ¡°OZ: The Great and Powerful¡±. This sort-of prequel of the original Wizard of Oz (1939) is a boring attempt to kick-start some new franchise. It ticks all the boxes of movie executives looking to cash in on a well-respected name: big name actors, over-the-top special effects, predicable plot and a history of obviously the original movie.

Considering it¡¯s directed by Sam Raimi, a master of horror films (The Evil Dead series) and superhero adventures (Spiderman Trilogy) you expected an engaging, rather un-childlike film; a film with say a little more drama.

Instead we¡¯re whisked away to the Land of Oz, a film completely surrounded by cute little creatures and CGI. The original had a sense of darkness to it; the wicked witch¡¯s evil presence surrounded the film. Here, it¡¯s all cutesy and safe, and not a split second do you fear for any of the characters.

Of course, being a prequel, you know what¡¯s going to happen. Oscar, or just plain Oz (played by James Franco) is collected up by a tornado, dumped in the other Oz, where he meets Theodora (Mila Kunis), a good witch who believes he¡¯s part of the prophecy. That prophecy deems that Oz will become the wizard to save the land from the wicked witch.

Theodora¡¯s sister Evanova (Rachel Weisz) sets Oz on the path to killing the evil and powerful witch, Glinda, played by Michelle Williams. It¡¯s pretty hard to imagine the wide-eye and soft-spoken Williams playing an evil character. At this point, you¡¯ve pretty much sorted out who¡¯s good and who¡¯s bad.

The film is all about second chances. Oz is the main character here, and perhaps there was never a more annoying anti-hero. He¡¯s a slippery, small-time illusionist and convicted serial liar working the dusty back roads of Kansas. Trying hard, he¡¯s always persuades those around him that he can do better and become a ¡°better man¡±. At the end of the film, we still don¡¯t know if he¡¯s pulling some scam or not.

Franco does the job well enough, but it¡¯s nothing too inspiring or engaging. Only Kunis portrays some kind of buzz, and gives the film a bit of energy that it sorely lacks, especially considering that Williams is merely there to push Oz into the become the wizard with words of belief, encouragement and so forth and Weisz is just there to look dangerous.

What¡¯s the most disappointing aspect is the fact that film had much more potential. With someone like Raimi at the held, we expected something a bit cavalier, a bit more exciting; one hour into the movie, I felt bored and wondering where my time went. By the end of it, I was wondering what made this film so powerful that it deserved to be included in the title.