I just watched "The Tin Man" on Netflix: I badly wanted to see it when it debuted on SyFy a few years ago, but being cable-less, I had to wait until now.This turns out to be both a sequel and modern-day updating to the Oz tale: The heroine DG is an twenty-something aspiring artist who lives at home on her parents' farm and works at a diner, while having mysterious dreams that promise something more beyond her small town. When the evil sorceress Azkadellia learns of DG's potential to thwart her plans for permanent power over Oz, a series of events are set in motion that sweep DG into a dystopian Oz where she joins up with a forgetful wanderer named Glitch whose brain was taken by the sorceress, a hardened fighter Wyatt Cain who was a policeman (a "tin man" in Oz slang) before his family was destroyed by the sorceress's army, and Wookie-like seer named Raw. Together they race to save Oz from Azkadellia's permanent evil darkness.Unfortunately the mini-series is a bit of a disappointment and it doesn't quite reach its potential for a couple reasons. First of all, while the contemporary/steampunk approach to the story is a great concept and the plot has a couple interesting twists, SyFy obviously didn't make an investment in the script. I'd liken it to constructing a solid steel building framework and then filling in the walls with plywood. The dialogue is glaringly banal and clichéd to the point that even the admirable casting of solid actors like Richard Dreyfuss, Alan Cummings, and Neal McDonough can barely do anything for it.And speaking of casting, I think it was a mistake to cast Zooey Deschanel as the lead: I know they are going for an alternative take on Oz, but her bored hipster routine is a little too one-note for this production. Her character of "DG" is an annoyingly inconsistent mix of too-cool-for-school woodenness, manic pixie girl naiveté, and forget about her effectively conveying any deep emotion: Her sad/emotional scenes are merely her being pouty. I think another TV starlet like Alexis Bleidel, Leighton Meester, or Emily Van Camp could have better depicted this character of DG, who is a mix of an independent rebel with ambitious dreams and a emotionally torn young woman who's trying to piece together her true life and destiny.The pacing of the episodes is also a bit uneven: The exposition-heavy first episode drags interminably to the point that I actually paused the video to see how much longer was left. Part 2, however, is far more exciting and engaging despite being virtually the same length, and Part 3 is decent as well.Overall, it's an impressively CGI-laden but rather mediocre TV movie that doesn't quite live up to its promise, but still is a entertaining way to pass 4 1/2 hours all the same.

The actors (and acting) is low grade. A waste of Alan Cumming's abilities. Ms. Deschanel is a silly, weightless presence (if I can even use the word "presence" for her, here) and everyone relies too heavily on that so-called (niche) talent of hers. The idea was really good but very poorly executed. Well-crafted nods to the original book or 1930's classic movie would have been great little "drops" in this series production but not done, or the few that were were again, poorly done. Why the focus on the Tin Man, I don't know. That character in this production is not in keeping with the original and the actor was not up to it. Goodness knows why the lion's character, Raw, was in there as he was barely a set decoration (again, weak, weak script and all the character names were weird, random and not clever). The scarecrow had a plausible twist but poor writing ability and script development dropped the ball and instead tried for random quirkiness which fell flat, flat, flat. The nemesis character was another waste. The costumes were as predictable (and therefore boring) as the script was goofy and meandering. I bought the DVD's for $5 and it's going in the trash.

Is this my favourite adaptation of Oz? No, I prefer the 1985 film Return To Oz. Is this a groundbreaking miniseries that should be up there with "Rome" as one of the best miniseries' ever? No. Is this just a bit of fun that's worth at least one watch the whole way through? Yes.I have one complaint, The script. The dialogue was thinner than a standard A4 sheet of paper and at the end of the first episode, Kane falls into ice and starts sinking when at the beginning of the second episode, he's on the snow and he doesn't show any sign of being wet nor is there a crack in the ice. This can only be avoided if you REALLY turn your brain off. I also have one more pet peeve, this is supposed to be a re-imagining of the original Wonderful Wizard Of Oz book by L. Frank Baum yet DG is actually a descendant of Dorothy Gale. It should be a sequel set thousands of years after the 1900 setting yet "the real world" is set in normal time.I liked the performances though, Alan Cumming does a good job as Glitch and I liked the little twist they gave on "I haven't got a brain." The wicked witch also has screen presence considering that her plan was to make the OZ dark as opposed to being bright. Zooey Deschanel does a good job as DG but after seeing Fairuza Balk play Dorothy I can't see any variation of Dorothy besides the 6-12 year old, In spite of that Zooey does a good job.My only REAL complaint is the script being a bit thin. Other than that I recommend this series to anyone who wants a rather unusual variation on the L. Frank Baum classic or if you've never read the books (I haven't) a variation of the bright, happy 1939 film.

I highly recommend this miniseries to anyone looking for something in the fantasy realm but still fresh and new. It's very original even though some (but very little) is borrowed from the original Oz. It has been called a steam punk variant of it: there's a lot of old but fantastic machines that really add a new flavor to the setting.The performances are all as excellent as they are effortless, as each character simply has been perfectly casted. Guys will adore the irresistibly big-eyed and cute Zooey Deschanel as main character DG while the male supporting cast is great too with variants of the original tin man (the title is a bit confusing since he's neither really of tin nor is he the main character), the lion and the scarecrow.It was simply a wonderful 3 hours of TV with great attention to detail, costumes, backdrops and pretty much everything else Only the animation was not Hollywood level but it was adequate.