What has always struck me about the Met's staging of "Dialogues of the Carmelites, " by contrast, is its straightforward, unironic seriousness of tone.
WSJ: Long After the Initial Shock, Modernism Still Delivers | Sightings by Terry Teachout
2.
The production design and the saturated colors are close enough that this movie really does work as a prequel (albeit in 3-D), and while the CGI is unmistakably 21st century, Raimi's unironic celebration of pure artifice does suggest a continuum of sorts.
CNN: Review: 'Oz the Great and Powerful' is more than good enough