Dorothy (Jannalee Nieuwenhuis), a slightly clumsy but good-natured
waitress, is caught by a tornado one day on her way home from work,
knocked out, and ... suddenly she wakes up in a completely different
world, a sort of wonderland. She is promptly accused of having killed a
witch - but that's a good thing, it was an evil witch, and thus she
inherits the witch's magic shoes. Of course, Dorothy wants to return to
her home in Kansas, and she's told to go to the Wizard of Oz (Gerrit
Nieuwenhuis), the only one who can help her - and to do so she has to
follow the yellow brick road, a road that curiously enough only she can
see. Soon, she is joined in her quest by a brainless scarecrow (Tom
Harney), a heartless tin man (Jacob Thomas Lloyd) and a cowardly lion
(Eddie DeVries), all of whom need to address the wizard for their
shortcomings. However, having killed the witch infuriates the Wicked
Witch of the West (Sarah Elsheikhi) - who then though is herself killed by
one of her two daughters, who's even more wicked than she. So Dorothy and
company must fetch a magic sword from an eccentric professor - which they
then lose to the Wicked Witch's other daughter. This is bad news and not
so bad news, because this daughter of the Witch knows compassion ... However,
when Dorothy and company finally make it to the wizard's home, they have
to face the Witch's two daughters and their associates in one final
battle. Will our heroes be able to defeat them and all their trickery? Now
ok, this film doesn't exactly break new ground, storywise (it's probably
safe to say almost anybody has seen one or the other adaptation of Wizard
of Oz), and it was obviously made on a very tight budget, thus
don't expect much on the special effects front here, or lavish sets or
somesuch. Also, the film's approach to its story isn't exactly wholly
original or postmodernist or anything like that, it's pretty much the
story you know, told in a rather traditional way. And all of this is a
good thing, actually, the old-fashioned storytelling is charming and shows
honest desire to actually tell the story, the lack of mind-blowing effects
and breath-taking sets makes sure the film concentrates on not only the
story but also its eccentric characters for their own quirks rather than
some superficual visual trickery attached to them, and the lack of
postmodernist reinterpretation shows the strengths of the story to tell
rather than its weaknesses. Add to this actors who seem to have put their
heart into the project, and a solid directorial effort that gets the most
out of the movie's budgetary limitations, and you have nice family
entertainment.
|