Tin Man [PG]

Take a journey beyond the yellow brick road to the land of the O.Z, the Outer Zone. In this modern take on the classic tale, an evil sorceress has taken control and scorched the once beautiful land of the O.Z. The only hope for the land’s terrified inhabitants lies with a girl from the “other side” named DG. Her quest is to change the fate of the O.Z and discover her own destiny along the way.

I’m a complete sucker for the classics and there is nothing I like better than to see new and different interpretations of them. Classic stories such as Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz have been done time and time again, each in a new and interesting way. Obviously, Tin Man is adapted from the classic novel by L. Frank Baum, but you’ve never seen The Wonderful Wizard of Oz like this before.

DG is a waitress and part-time student who lives with her parents on a farm in a small town. But DG has never felt at home there and believes that her destiny and real home lies somewhere else. After having some troubling and cryptic dreams, DG is taken by her parents to the land of the O.Z, the Outer Zone. Once there, DG and her parents become separated and DG sets off on a quest to find them. Along the way she makes a few friends and learns that this land was once beautiful, but has been destroyed by the evil sorceress Azkadellia. As DG heads further down the yellow brick road, she learns that the fate of the O.Z lies in her hands and she only has a couple of days to save the world from a dark and grim fate.

Divided into three parts, Tin Man is a very interesting retelling of L. Frank Baum’s classic tale of witches and wizards. The series really only samples the original story, using certain bits such as the yellow brick road, the cowardly lion, the heartless “tin man”, the brainless member of the group, and the “all powerful” wizard. Other samples of the original tale are more cleverly woven into the story, like the girl taunting the trees so that it would throw apples at her. The story itself is quite clever. At times, the script became a little confusing and muddled. The film has a modern setting and deals with more modern themes, but the dialogue used sometimes reverted back to older and more sophisticated tones. Phrases such as “I heard tell of it once in a story from the past” clash with lines like “the little bitch has gone to see the wizard.” Do you see what I mean? It seems to go in one direction and then change suddenly and go down another path. That’s my only real major problem with the series. Aside from that the series has wonderful costumes, great makeup and very memorable characters. Starring Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming, Neal McDonough, and Richard Dreyfuss, Tin Man is an interesting journey beyond the yellow brick road. A very clever and creative retelling of the L. Frank Baum’s classic tale.