“Oz the Great and the Powerful” stars James Franco in the lead role. (Courtesy of AP)

As it turns out the incredible Oz was not so incredible.

The 3-D animation was a nice touch if you’re interested in such technology and the special effects were done really well.

Otherwise, the story was weak.

Directed by Sam Raimi and starring James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Zach Braff (playing both a human and the voice of a flying monkey) the cast of the film was a well known group of film industry members.

The PG rating was not as childish as one would believe, there were a number of explosions and fighting scenes that made the movie more entertaining than most PG rated films.

The movie takes similar artistry used in the original “Wizard of Oz” film such as beginning the movie in black and white and then playing it in color once the audience is transported to Oz through each movies’ protagonists.

Although Dorothy is not featured in this supposed prequel to her tale, other characters from the story we all know are present throughout the movie such as the Wicked Witch, Oz, the Munchkins and Glenda.

The character in the movie that was the weakest link may have to be the China Doll.

The China Doll seemed irrelevant to the original movie and relatively out of place.

Essentially, L. Frank Baum’s Oz is a more transformative experience perhaps because it is the version that most of us grew up with and Franco’s performance wasn’t as believable as his Oscar nominated performance from “127 Hours.”

In addition, having two evil witches was somewhat confusing and the film maintained a sense of inconsistency throughout. 

Mila Kunis’ evil witch makeup was eery, but she lacked the nightmarish elongated face from the original.

Despite all of my critiques the film is an escape with its fantastical CGI sets and characters.

“Oz the Great and Powerful” is in theaters now.