7. Ghost Rider
One wouldn’t think of the fearsome Ghost Rider as having anything in common with the Cowardly Lion. But look deeper. They both have given up being masters of their own destiny. Ghost Rider is bossed around by the devil, and the Lion by that insistent little Dorothy who just won’t let him give in to self-pity and loathing. They both just want to be left alone, but don’t have the balls to insist on it.
6. This Means War
Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone wanted you? “That’s me” you say. Everyone DOES want me. For stuff like my, advice and opinion. Oh you sad insect. They’re just being nice because your gaming setup is better than theirs. Or, condescending, because their mother told them to “be nice to your cousin. He had that accident as a young boy and never quite recovered mentally.”
No! People don’t want your advice, opinion or even need your help to get back home to Kansas. They’d rather trek around a foreign, and quite honestly frightening, fantasy land and look for a Wizard. A WIZARD! Not you. Unless… Well let’s just admit it. Unless you were a hot blonde with the subtle curves of Reese Witherspoon. And even then it’s not advice or opinions they’re looking for, and screw Kansas I’ll fight off that CIA punk who used to be my friend for you.
5. The Descendants
A man who doesn’t quite connect with his kids and never saw the obvious signs that his wife was having an affair. If there was an Ostrich in The Wizard of Oz, that’d be the parallel. But there isn’t an Ostrich. There is however a lion who lacks courage.
The lion to his credit does go searching for the quality he lacks most, as does Matt king played by George Clooney. But everyone needs a hand. The lion gets more than just a nudge from Dorothy and Matt King embarks on his quest with the reluctant help of his daughters, who incidentally, neither look anything like Dorothy or the Wicked Witch just in case you were thinking that’s where this was heading.
4. Mean Streets
It’s really the dog’s fault. If Toto hadn’t bitten that lady, Miss Gulch, and been ordered to be destroyed they’d have never run away etc. The twister obviously didn’t help. Similarly Charlie (Harvey Keitel’s character) can lay a lot of the blame at the doorstep of Johnny Boy. Unhinged and energetic, Johnny Boy (Toto) mouthed off (bit) local shark Michael (Miss Gulch) resulting in the ensuing fleeing from an assassin (twister).
The only difference between these 2 movies, apart from the scarecrow, lion, tin man, wizard, witch, gangsters, Robert De Niro, is that Dorothy is trying to get back to Kansas, and Charlie is trying to get OUT of Little Italy. Otherwise they’re essentially the same.
3. American Pie 2
There is actually a character called Oz in this corny porny waste of time movie.
In the sequel to the 1st movie Oz is separated from his girlfriend by a trip abroad. This is such an obvious knock off. Dorothy met the Wizard and we all saw the way he looked at her. She then returned home, which the last anyone checked is abroad in relation to Oz. So the Wizard is left lovesick and in need of comforting by his bros. They rent a summer house to cheer him up in the hopes of getting lucky. Is that the Scarecrow with Stifler’s Mom?
2. Twilight Saga
Marriage, honeymoon and the birth of a child. Yes, Twisters on this scale can be devastating leaving all involved to wish they were back in Kansas. Toto’s obvious infatuation with Dorothy, can’t help but remind us of a certain poodle looking Jacob. Stephenie Meyer has gone too far here. Shamelessly ripping off L. Frank Baum’s classic story. Let’s go to the beginning. Bella (Dorothy) is stuck in a place she doesn’t want to be – Forks, Washington (Kansas). James (Wicked Witch of the West), a sadistic vampire is trying to kill her. If he could, he’d kill her “little dog too.”
Edward clearly lacks a brain and a beating heart, so follows Bella around like a puppy. Bella attracts danger as much as Dorothy attracts twisters. One of the most obvious parallels in the stories is the love triangles. Edward loves Bella. Bella loves Jacob. Jacob loves Bella. Bella is OK with Jacob as long as Edward isn’t around. Edward is around. Jacob settles for Edward and Bella’s baby daughter Renesmee. It’s as unnatural as the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion triangle. But just as obvious.
1. Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots, despite what is name leads one to believe, is no Scaredy Cat. Unlike the Lion. The 2011 movie based its Spanish accented cat on the 1697 French fairy tale character. Making it obvious, that in this case, Frank L. Baum stole his idea for the Lion from pre-existing literature. All he had to do was read Puss in Boots and make sure his character was the exact opposite.
Final proof is that there are no new ideas in cinema. Just regurgitated old ones.
