Miniseries rock!!

Title: Tin Man
Format: DVD/Miniseries
Rating: A-

I am officially hooked on miniseries! Pride & Prejudice, The 10th Kingdom, Lost in Austen, and now Tin Man. I can't wait to see what's next!

Description (from Barnes & Noble): Produced for the Sci-Fi Channel, this twisted variation on L. Frank Baum's classic tale follows a young girl named D.G. and her newfound friends as they embark on a wondrous adventure through the Outer Zone (O.Z.) on a mission to locate a powerful wizard known as the Mystic Man, and break the spell of the wicked sorceress Azkadellia. An ordinary girl suddenly thrust into an extraordinary world, D.G. arrives on the Outer Zone prepared to follow the fabled Old Road and fulfill her destiny. When D.G. discovers that the evil Azkadellia has cast an oppressive spell over the Outer Zone, she enlists the aid of half-brained eccentric Glitch, kindly-but-cowardly beast Raw, and heartbroken former lawman Cain in seeking out the wisdom of the fabled Mystic Man who lives at the end of the Old Road. With the future of the Outer Zone hanging in the balance, this adventurous group ventures down a perilous road that will find them doing battle with nightmarish flying monkey bats and Azkadellia's malevolent henchmen as they attempt to break a spell with the power to destroy them all. Perhaps before their journey is over, D.G. and her new friends will discover a few things that they never even knew about themselves as well.

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First, I must say Thank You to my coworker Lori for lending this to me! This miniseries was awesome! Complex characters, a great story, plot twists, and a beautiful setting. It was so good, that as soon as I finished it, I watched it again with my sister (who also loved it).

Some fun quotes:

Glitch: Even with half a brain, I can tell we gotta get out of here.

Azkadellia: Well if it isn't the great and terrible blah blah blah himself.

Cain: You know, sometimes it amazes me that you were once an adviser to the queen.
Glitch: I know, me too!

Glitch: I actually don't like heights.
DG: When I first met you, you were hanging from a ceiling.

Zooey Deschanel is perfect as the wide-eyed heroine, thrust into a strange world that seems oddly familiar to her, trying to save this world while also trying to figure out who she is. I loved her reactions to everything going on around her and her interactions with the other characters. I was a little disappointed with the lack of romance, but the series is so exciting, I didn't feel like it was missing anything important.

Her fellow adventurers are also great. Alan Cumming as the "scarecrow" character Glitch is hilarious. He actually reminds me of Dug, from Disney-Pixar's Up. And Neal McDonough as the Tin Man... amazing! By far, he is my favorite character. His storyline within the movie was just as exciting as DG's, and I could have watched this movie if it was all just about him.

The story's main adversary, Azkedellia, was the perfect combination of evil and cunning. Her facial expressions and the way she talked just exuded maliciousness. I loved the series' portrayal of the flying monkeys as well.

I think the best part of the film was seeing how the SciFi channel interpreted the story of the Wizard of Oz. Modern touches, like contemporary clothing and complex machines, and new interpretations, such as the Tin Man being a human cop (which is why he's called a tin man) and the scarecrow being a human too, only he's actually missing half of his brain-- these new additions mixed in with the old magic of the original story made this a thrilling adventure to take part in.

My complaint is the same as most of my others. Please edit out the one or two scenes that make it impossible for me to share this with the whole family. Otherwise, it's perfect. A-