Tin Man

The last couple of nights, we've been enjoying a mini-series on the Sci-Fi channel called Tin Man.

An epic reinvention of The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, it stars Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy love interest Zooey Deschanel as DG (Dorothy Gale, geddit?) and Hollywood veteran Richard Dreyfuss as the 'Mystic Man' (known to some as The Wizard of Oz.)

And how it is?

Well, my first thought was that The Wizard of Oz was the LAST series that needed an 'epic reinvention.' Aside from the Broadway smash 'Wicked,' which told the tale from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West, the world of Oz has been visited no less than 40 times since L. Frank Baum first put pen to paper.

Gregory Maguire's masterpiece, Wicked (upon which the Broadway musical was based) remains the most famous - but there are also adaptations which have Dorothy leading the elite, undercover 'Oz Squad' and a comic book seeing the inhabitants of Oz battle it out against the creatures of Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland.

Similarly, there have been 23 screen-adaptations of The Wizard of Oz - of which Tin Man is merely the most recent.

Tin Man

The miniseries itself is visually quite stunning. Oz is filmed as a blend of computer animated landscapes and epic Canadian countryside. The Emerald City (known as Central City in the series) is a Gotham City-esque creation of towering skyscrapers and 1930's art-deco architecture and cars. The Outer Zone (O.Z., geddit?) is currently under the thrall of Azkadellia the witch, who rules the land with her army of 'Long Coats' - thinly disguised SS Officers in knee-length leather coats.

While it's all very original and beautifully transferred to screen, the re-imagining is somewhat hit and miss. The eponymous 'Tin Man' is an old Central City police officer (known as Tin Men for their tin badges) who was exiled by the new regime. His trilby and trench coat make him somewhat of a cross between a cowboy/sheriff and a Raymond Chandler style private dick. While he's entirely human, we're meant to consider him equivalent to the 'Tin Woodman' from Baum's book because he's so cold and surly, he 'has no heart.'

The Scarecrow is played cheerfully by British actor Alan Cumming, whose character, Glitch, was a royal advisor until Azkadellia unzipped his head (he has a zipper across his brow) and removed half his brains. This explains his irregular behaviour (and possibly his inconsistent American accent.)

Finally, the 'Lion,' named Raw, is basically wearing the same costume as his 1939 celluloid counterpart - oh, except he's playing it as 'tragedy' rather than 'comedy'.

Their battle to discover the secret behind DG's upbringing and her links to Azkadellia are played out in an incredibly boring, formulaic fashion. For all the startling originality in the costumes and characters of this 'Oz,' the plot churns along like a pot-boiling melodrama. All of the old matinee cliches are there - from the Tin Man's 'fatal' wound being deflected by his son's little lead horse, to he and Glitch knocking out two Long Coats and stealing their costumes to sneak into the witch's tower.

It's predictable and poorly paced.

The acting, too, is sketchy. The Tin Man is played by Neal McDonough, who has square-jawed, matinee idol good looks and plays the tortured, surly, cop-with-a-stone-heart role in exactly the same tired, predictable fashion as every steely inspector since Dirty Harry.

The gorgeous Zooey Deschanel plays DG in exactly the same way as every character she's ever brought to life on screen before. She's got textbook character traits: Witty, cynical and sarcastic. She has the expression of a sullen teenager whether she's learning the origin of her family history or being hoisted into the air by flying monkeys. And despite plunging off mountains or being tortured by Azkadellia, Zooey's character looks astonishingly bored throughout her adventures.

Kathleen Robertson, as Azkadellia, is interesting merely because she exceptionally good looking (in that rather formulaic way American actresses sometimes are) and her portrayal of the evil witch is deliciously evil. The highlight of her role has to be when she throws off her cloak, arches her back and unleashes her 'evil flying monkeys' from a magical tattoo painted across her heaving, corset-clad breasts. It brings whole new angle to the expression: 'unleashing the monkeys.'

There's only one more episode of Tin Man left - and I'll dutifully watch it. It's not bad television at all - in fact, compared to the diet of reality TV and reruns we're spoon fed in America, it's sterling stuff. But the whole package ends up being disappointing just because it's not anything new, original or exceptional.

It could have been spectacular. Instead, it's merely sufficient. But if you're a fan of the Wizard of Oz mythos, it's still essential viewing.

Tin Man is on Sci-Fi at 9pm EST.