Dorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, finds herself back in the land of her dreams, and makes delightful new friends, and dangerous new enemies.
Any movie in which a Midwestern prairie actually looks more attractive and more interesting than the enchanted land over the rainbow is in big trouble.
– Richard Schickel,
TIME Magazine,
9 Mar 2009
fresh:
It's bleak, creepy, and occasionally terrifying.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
12 Dec 2007
rotten:
The work of ingenious technicians who seem either not to know what gave the original film its magic, or not to care.
– Janet Maslin,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
rotten:
Despite the presence of Billina the talking hen, the emphasis on insecurity and peril harks back to the treat-'em-rough days of children's fiction, and the disturbing/comforting ratio tilts conclusively towards the former.