The Wiz (1978)

As a middle-class white guy from the suburbs, I doubt that I can fully appreciate this film. I am certainly not a part of the main audience the filmmakers had in mind when bringing The Wiz from Broadway to the big screen. But the beauty of film is that there is (usually) something in the story or craftsmanship that everyone can enjoy, no matter how targeted the film is.

School teacher Dorothy Gale (Diana Ross) lives with her aunt and uncle in a Harlem apartment. The shy young woman seems to have no interest in leaving the place where she grew up, a quality for which she is teased by her family at Thanksgiving. When her dog Toto runs away into a snowstorm, Dorothy follows but gets caught up and whisked away to the Kingdom of Oz. In this dystopian urban environment, Dorothy makes friends with a scarecrow, tin man, and a lion, while making an enemy with the dangerous Wicked Witch of the East. Her only hope to get back home is to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and seek the aid of the powerful Wizard of Oz.

The Wiz certainly is not my cup of tea and does not transcend well into my demographic background. That being said, there are a few interesting things going on here. Some of the sets are fascinating. Some scenes are shot on location in places like parking garages but the constructed sets are the best to examine. In The Wiz, the Kingdom of Oz is a mix of urban decay and wasteland. I caught myself questioning whether Oz should be so full of the familiar for Dorothy, but so was the 1939 classic version- Oz was farm fields and wilderness. Creating the dilapidated sets must have been difficult but rewarding for everyone involved.

The problems I perceive with The Wiz deal with time and age. Diana Ross clearly looks older than the 24-year-old character she portrays (she was in her mid-thirties at the time). I understand that the film needed a big-name with musical ability to headline this film, but Ross only works with a grain of salt too large for me to swallow. The inclusion of other African-American icons is useful. Not only does it round out the cast with notable names and faces (Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross), but it brings real talent to the film.

I was impressed with Michael Jackson’s performance. Many singers cannot act but it is clear that the man was born to be an entertainer. As the brain-seeking scarecrow, his character’s message is targeted directly at urban African-American youth. While “don’t listen to them- you can be smart” is a good message, it is not one that has aged well. At the time this film was made, it probably seemed uplifting and inspirational, especially coming from Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. This far removed from the civil rights era, however, the message comes across as hokey and lacking substance.

Despite a number of laudable elements, the film as a whole has not aged well. While I just defended the film’s use of the familiar with its urban decay, this setting has a very dated feel now. Maybe it still resonates for those who live in and around decaying cities, but the sets, while looking good, fail to transcend time for me. This, along with the costumes and musical style, prevent The Wiz from standing the test of time like the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz has. It wasn’t a wasted opportunity when it came out but it almost feels like one 30 plus years after the fact.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5

A Bug's Life (1998)

This is the kind of film you get when you combine groundbreaking technology with a story that’s been told a few too many times. There is nothing wrong with A Bug’s Life, really. In fact, it stands tall as one of the better non-musical films in Disney’s arsenal of family entertainment. And yet, in only Pixar’s second full-length computer-animated film, enough of the freshness we felt in Toy Story seems to have disappeared.

Flik is tired of being a follower, which is difficult for a member of an ant colony. His creativity, inventiveness, and unfortunate clumsiness make him stand out from his peers in a bad way. When his latest invention draws the ire of greedy and hostile grasshoppers, the colony is threatened with extinction. Flik sets off to assemble a team of warriors to defend his colony, but his creativity is put to the test when all he can recruit is a team of misfit circus bugs.

A Bug’s Life has plenty of beautiful animation to its credit. It also boasts a bunch of amusing and colorful characters. The story, however, is weak. A group of misfits band together to accomplish amazing feats? Yeah, I’ve seen about a dozen or more films with the exact same plot, especially with children’s films. Because the whole story structure is recycled, it’s not hard to predict most of how this film plays out.

As many authors will tell you, however, it is not about the destination, but the journey itself. Fortunately, this film has plenty of easily-digested ingredients. What the story lacks in freshness, Pixar makes up for with another dose of visual wonder. Toy Story gave us a look at what our homes look to our toys. A Bug’s Life takes us outside and even closer to the ground. The attention to detail and exaggeration of such micro details reminds me of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. It is clear that Pixar was not about to rest on their laurels in this department, which is very encouraging.

Flik and the rest of the ants are pretty bland. The grasshoppers are mindless drones, save for their leader, Hopper (voiced by Kevin Spacey). He is intimidating at times but is understandably over-the-top with his rage. The real gems are the circus bugs. Each one has their own unique personality and that personality shows through in their physical appearance. While over-anthropomorphizing non-human characters became a problem in several computer-animated films released in the past decade, Pixar does it right here. Characters retain enough of their insect nature to be believable as bugs.

The story may leave you wanting more if you focus on it too much but if you pull back your magnifying glass just a little bit, there is no reason not to enjoy this film. Its quirks and jokes are good fun for all ages. It lacks the wow actor of Toy Story and some later Pixar films, but A Bug’s Life is certainly no sophomore slump.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

SECOND HELPINGS: Metropolis (1927)

The first time I saw this film was my sophomore or junior year in college. It was shown in a local independent movie theater and a man came in to perform a live score with the film on a Wurlitzer organ. I was awestruck. The scope of this film and the technical prowess behind it back up all the praise from industry insiders and cinephiles everywhere.

Perhaps I forgot some of the story details over the years, but watching it again recently has me wondering if I saw a different cut back in my college days. From doing a little research, I found that a new cut did come into existence around or just after I would have seen it in college because additional surviving footage was found. Specifically, the elements of the scientist creating his robot in order to destroy the city’s master, Fredersen, seemed new to me. If I recall correctly, in the version I saw in college Fredersen and the scientist worked together in order to crush Maria’s preaching to the underclass of workers.

If I did indeed see two unique cuts of the film, it speaks volumes to Fritz Lang and his crew that both are mesmerizing and equally great. I can’t even bring myself to make the argument that modern audiences might not think the special effects of Metropolis are a big deal, because I was captivated by them before I really began to understand and research film history.

Some viewers may have a hard time buying into the film’s hopelessly naïve ideal of unity between the working and ruling classes, and that is completely understandable. If you allow yourself to experience this film without reservations, however, you will be sucked in and feel like it is a triumph of the human spirit. It is, after all, a puff piece but it is packed with enough drama and action to keep you emotionally invested in the story and the characters.

Other viewers may be apprehensive of taking Metropolis in if they know of its history as a favorite film among Nazis, European socialists, and communists of pre-World War II Europe. I find this weirdly amusing because I see the film not as rich vs. poor but as party elite vs. their suppressed citizens. The upper class of Metropolis resembles almost exactly what society turns into under authoritarian socialist and communist rule. It makes you wonder if those Nazis and Soviets subconsciously longed for the unity at the ending or the division at the beginning of the film.

From a technical standpoint, Metropolis was a game changer. The inventiveness of some of the special effects is a testament to director Fritz Lang and his entire crew of filmmakers. The idealism of the story is worn boldly on Metropolis’s sleeve but I wouldn’t call it overly idealistic. Rather, it is idealism personified and committed to celluloid. For that, it is a powerful testament to the longing of the human spirit to be in balance and I respect that. It may not be as potently enjoyable as Gone with the Wind, but it comes darn close.

Original Rating: 4.75 out of 5


New Rating: 4.75 out of 5