Tin Man (2007)

Directed by: Nick Willing | 253 minutes | adventure, fantasy, science fiction, western | Actors: Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming, Neal McDonough, Richard Dreyfuss, Kathleen Robertson, Raoul Trujillo, Callum Keith Rennie, Ian A. Wallace, Richard Dreyfuss, Blu Mankuma, Gwynyth Walsh, Kevin McNulty, Rachel Pattee, Alexia Fast, Brenna O’ Brien, Jake D. Smith, Alexis Llewellyn, Marilyn Norry, Andrew Wheeler

In 2008 the contemporary version of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, called ‘Tin Man’ – which was more of a miniseries taking its inspiration from that film – was released on DVD in the Netherlands. However, the DVD released by Bridge Pictures turned out to contain a movie that was only half the running time of the original six-hour series. The result was a film that seemed more like a trailer of the real series, especially when it came to important, innovative, or interesting aspects of content. The most peculiar thing was that the story about the tin man, which, given the title of the series, it can be assumed that it should be fairly central, remained painfully unfinished. Still, there were already interesting aspects to be seen in that version and the versatility of that production, even if various films and stories are borrowed, kept the whole worth watching for a long time. Bridge Pictures is now, about a year later, releasing a very welcome longer version, which solves almost all previous problems. It’s not the full six hours yet. but this four-hour version of the series—overseen in each variant by director Nick Willing, by the way—may well be the most optimal of the three, assuming it’s viewed as a movie, not a series. Because even with these four hours, several repetitions of moves are already visible, which are just not getting boring or irritating. This could be happening in six hours. Again and again the evil Azkadellia who goes back to her captive to get information or pepper her power and rule. Again and again a seer who is consulted to reminisce in someone else about the location of DG or an important emerald. And, as entertaining and “aesthetic” as it is to see Azkadellia always throwing her cleavage into battle to free the flying monkeys from tattoos, after three times you’ve seen this trick.

Also thematically, it is actually sufficient, in addition to that of DG, to only work out the story of the Tin Man – what is happening here – and with the “lion” and the “scarecrow” the topics – the search for a mind and courage – just touching here and there and finishing in a few scenes. After all, everyone is familiar with the original story, and it might feel too long-winded or like a mandatory song to really mash every sub-theme in the viewer’s mind at length. But who knows, maybe more time will make the whole thing feel less like a checklist to be completed than it sometimes still does. What can be established is that the extra five quarters of an hour that the viewer gets here significantly improves the experience of this miniseries. The film/series just feels complete now, where it wasn’t really the case before. Stories are now being further developed or completed in places where it is needed. The tin man, who was looking for his family, at least now knows what became of his wife and child, and this also represents his (unconscious) search for his heart in a rather elegant way. Unfortunately, the makers could not resist inserting explicit dialogue, also with other characters – literally referring to “heart”, “cleverness”, or “courage” – to ensure that the viewer does not miss anything, but the themes of at least the tin man storyline isn’t so “in your face”.

The story aspects that were perhaps the most compelling original additions from the creators, namely the history of DG, Azkadellia and the Queen of OZ and the way these stories are interrelated, are getting a lot more attention this time. Especially the character of Azkadellia now gets more layers and now and then some hints of humanity, where this seemed to be the case especially at the end of the film. The deepening of these stories, which are the very heart of the film, is very beneficial for the viewer’s involvement and also gives the film a face of its own, rather than being just a film that winks at the original’ The Wizard of Oz’ and all kinds of ideas and scenes from other movies. Because the sources of inspiration continue to stand out. Especially ‘The Lord of the Rings’ has been looked closely at (for example locations, camera angles, story structure, character types). The black hole of acting that protagonist Zooey Deschanel represents here is also still present. She walks around the film with one and the same wide-eyed gaze, unimpressed by all the fantastic things happening around her. But an extra hour can’t fix everything. In any case, let’s be happy with what we got here: a complete movie that offers four hours of good entertainment and has its own character.