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| photo courtesy of theartsshelf.com |
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is Disney’s live-action re-envisioning of the
classic Nutcracker story. In this version,
Clara Stahlbaum (Mackenzie Foy) travels into the magical world of the “four realms,”
where she meets a Nutcracker soldier (Jayden Fowora-Knight), the Sugar Plum
Fairy (Keira Knightley), and many other friendly faces. But not everything in
the four realms is sugary and sweet: the Mouse King (Charles Riley) and Mother
Ginger (Helen Mirren) aim to take control of the realms with their evil army. It’s
up to Clara, newly crowned queen of the realms, to put a stop to their plans.
Like the Sugar Plum
Fairy’s cotton candy hairdo, The
Nutcracker and the Four Realms is sweet and fluffy and bright and dissolves
in a heartbeat. I came into the movie with decidedly low expectations, so I
received it on the best possible terms—as something pleasant, mildly
entertaining, and generally unmemorable. Though it doesn’t offer a whole lot
for adults, it should do alright with kids… if it doesn’t scare the bejesus out
of them.
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| photo courtesy of polygon.com |
The Nutcracker’s
most distinctive feature is the level of detail in its sets and costumes. The
settings, which rely heavily on CGI, are often beautiful, always intricate, and
occasionally haunting. Costumes carry the same level of craftsmanship, but many
of them are ultimately ugly to look at; they range from The Wizard of Oz to The Santa
Clause 3, sometimes in the same scene.
When it comes to story,
The Nutcracker lacks creativity. Narrative,
character, and dialogue are all thin, and frankly, even the premise
itself—bringing the clunky trappings of modern blockbusters into this classic
story—is vaguely transgressive. But nothing in The Nutcracker comes off as offensively
bad. It’s light and short enough to be undemanding, kid-oriented escapism, and
with the exception of a few exceptionally nightmarish characters, no part of it
makes enough of an impression to leave a sour taste in your mouth for long.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is rated PG.
TRAILER
Watch the trailer here.
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| photo courtesy of journaltimes.com |
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