My Review of "The Wiz"

The Wiz is the retelling of the classic Wizard of OZ movie. This remake was released back in 1978 and it kind of shows in the aesthetics of the movie. Still there's not a lot of people that talk about this movie and it's kind of a shame. It's a wildly imaginative version of the movie that still keeps all of the main themes of the original while allowing the creator's to add some of their own personal touches.

The movie starts off much different from the original movie. Everything is based in New York of the 1970s. We still have the same main characters with Dorothy being at the forefront. This time Dorothy is a kindergarten school teacher and she's kind of having an existential crisis. She doesn't have much ambition anymore and feels as though she's stuck in a rut. Her auntie Em tries to encourage her to have bigger visions for herself. Dorothy is only 24 years old and has her whole life to look forward to. Yet she's afraid to move forward.

All this is happening while there's some sort of snow storm. Dorothy's dog Toto runs out of the apartment. This is when Dorothy comes racing after her dog. Watching this take place you have to realize it's a fantasy film because she's wearing a pair of heels running into the snow storm. I have to commend Diana Ross who plays Dorothy. She does a heck of a lot of running and dancing in heels and she makes it look effortless.

Of course the snow storm throws her into a whirlwind and she finds herself in the wonderful world of Oz. Much of the story remains the same as the original movie however the aesthetics, songs and atmosphere has totally changed. Instead of munchkin land we see a world filled with graffiti and munchkins are basically the drawings from the wall.

Much of the aesthetics are based in an urban sprawl much akin to the city of New York. It is also pretty much an all black cast of actors and singers. There is such a stark contrast in atmosphere with the visuals and music that takes place throughout the movie. Even though it's pretty much the same exact story it feels like a totally different movie.

The dancing in this movie is everywhere! You have these joyous moments where the scarecrow, who is played by Michael Jackson, are absolutely incredible. Then you can tell that they muted some of the dance and song numbers in certain scenes to emphasize the shackles on the characters being played. This is only to show you the complete 180 of these same characters when they're freed from their oppressors.

A lot of the looks of the time are implemented into the movie. You will see cars and characters that look very similar to some of the album artwork from the Parliament Funkadelic. Some of these costumes are downright frightening but so imaginative. It's sprinkled out consistently throughout the movie and it's actually a pretty cool look.

There's more to the look than meets the eye though. The art is pretty much a retelling of African American history. You can see that there is a ton of stories even in the costume and set design. They are pretty much going through several generations of African American history. Even the side plots of the wicked witch Evillene talks about the complacency of workers and how they are shackled to a life of destitute. It only took a bunch of misfits to eliminate their problem through a simple act of courage.

Overall, as a movie itself, to me it's only okay. As a piece speaking of American pop culture I would say this movie ranks up high. You have to see this movie to understand what I'm saying. I swore I heard some of the songs in this movie before not knowing that they spawned because of this movie. I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. When you go see this movie really look and listen to the details. It will give you a much better understanding of what the makers of this movie were really trying to do. There's some pretty great dance and song numbers in here as well.