Kernel Rating (out of 5): 0
MPAA Rating: PG Length: 88 minutes
Age Appropriate For: 6+. Oz is in danger again, so there are flying monkeys, an evil jester who turns people into marionettes, and some destruction throughout the land. But there’s nothing really frightening or even remotely as creepy as the original “Wizard of Oz” film.
‘Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return’ tries so hard to be inspirational and positively messaged that it ends being toothless. This shockingly poor adaptation is not only disappointing visually but also barely recognizable as an Oz-related story, lacking the charm of the classic film and any coherence of its own.
By Roxana Hadadi
“Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return” is a terrible film with only one achievement: It is a movie in which its titular heroine, one of the most iconic cinematic characters, is reduced to a blank-faced automaton who robotically chirps about the importance of cooperation and self-esteem and hard work … and then sings a couple of forgettable songs before lecturing about cooperation and self-esteem and hard work again. “Dorothy’s Return,” an adaptation of the children’s book “Dorothy of Oz,” written by “Oz” creator L. Frank Baum’s grandson Roger, ruins Dorothy, and that’s the only impressive thing it does.
