Tin Man

I recently watched Tin Man, SciFi's Wizard of Oz update. Instead of one long movie, it was a three-night miniseries. (About 4 1/2 hours total.) And instead of having a lead character be naive, trustworthy and endlessly fascinated with everything about Oz, this time around the lead is snarky, reserved and almost a little bored with everything after a while. That is one of many changes employed. MANY.

For starters, the "O.Z." (Pronounce like term: The OC), or, "Outer Zone," is wrecked and ruined after years under the rule of the wicked witch. (Who is young-ish, late 20's, early 30's in this movie.) There is an ex-policeman (an ex-"Tin Man"), a genius who had half of his brain removed (the "scarecrow") and a lion-like creature who can see into people's hearts (the lion).

After the first half hour, any similarities between Tin Man and Wizard of Oz grow farther and farther apart. (Toto is a shape shifter - and a spy?!) While it does enough to be creative enough on it's own terms, the project could have used tighter production; it felt like a TV movie through and through. And the acting was not up to par. (Why, Zooey Deschanel, why?)

There were two things that stuck out that I really liked (that I can tell without giving away spoilers... if you ever watch it, I loved the Grey Gale scene....) about Tin Man: The music. Although the main theme felt very familiar, it still was epic enough to carry many scenes. (And the main theme was repeated a lot, so it's a good thing I liked it!)

If you hated flying monkeys before, these new ones will still give you nightmares.

The best part of the miniseries, the light of the entire series, was the dark witch, Azkadellia. While she wasn't as maniacal and outright loony as the old Wicked Witch of the West, Azkadellia had such a understated evilness about her, while delivering her lines in this really fantastic, campy sort-of-a-way. Every time actress Kathleen Robertson came on screen, the show burst into life. (Which, she was a villain and seeker of death to all, so that's just a touch of irony.) While I'm sure just about every other role could have been recast (sorry, guys), Kathleen's performances are the only thing that stick out in my mind as memorable and worthwhile about the series. (And would be the only reason I would watch it again. That, and maybe to count her many, many costume changes.)

The best part about Azkadellia? She was one of the main criticisms of Tin Man; people didn't like the acting and didn't like the character. I, however, saw it as delightfully cheesy. As in, it was so bad it was really good.

Tin Man may be worth a rent (or a stream, if it's still up at SciFi.com), but not much more. I think I'm glad I saw it, but I can't see myself watching it again.