The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Simple beauty
Disney’s ‘Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ offers gorgeous visuals, basic but child-friendly tale
Like last year’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast” from Disney, this year’s similar offering from the House of the Mouse, “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” is a sumptuous feast for the eyes. ¶ Even in 2-D — as it was shown recently at an advanced screening — the familyfriendly adventure practically jumps off the screen, Disney obviously putting serious resources into its gorgeous visuals. ¶ In the storytelling department, however, “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” — like the famous Tchaikovsky ballet, it’s inspired by E.T.A. Hoffman’s original story from 1816, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” — is a bit less inspiring. To be fair, though, it’s clearly aimed more at children than at adults, with an easy-to-follow tale complete with a valuable lesson. (Think Disney’s adaptation of “A Wrinkle in Time” from earlier this year, only coherent.)
It’s also lifted by the performance of its young star, Mackenzie Foy. As Clara, a smart, mechanically gifted girl who has the otherworldly adventure of a lifetime, Foy manages to tap into some emotionally compelling territory without looking as if she’s trying. It’s impressive.
Clara’s tale takes place on Christmas Eve 1879, in London. It should be a happy time, but — as Clara makes clear to her father, Mr. Stahlbaum (Matthew MacFadyen) — she has no intention of being happy. That is because, despite being surrounded by him, her sister, Louise (Ellie Mamber) and her brother, Fritz, she feels an intense loneliness due to the recent loss of her mother. And she is cross with Dad for trying to carry on traditions that used to include Mom.
Despite not being there, her mother has left her children gifts. While Louise’s is Mom’s favorite dress — Mr. Stahlbaum is, understandably, a bit taken aback when he sees her in it — Clara’s is, like herself, a bit more unusual. It is an ornate egg, and while a note from her mother suggests everything Clara needs can be found inside, she is unable to open it, despite her skills for such tasks.
Clara realizes it must be the work of her inventive godfather, Drosselmeyer (an eyepatch-wearing Morgan Freeman), who raised her mother after she was orphaned. At a lavish party later that night, Clara finds him, but instead of telling her all she needs know, he simply promises her a magical night. He isn’t kidding. Clara soon finds herself in a fantastical realm full of snow-covered trees, where she sees a key. Before she can grab it, though, a mouse snatches it. Pursuing the rodent, she encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), who guards a bridge to the all-but-forbidden Fourth Realm, overseen by the banished Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren).
With Phillip’s help, Clara makes it to a castle presided over by the Sugar Plum Fairy (Keira Knightley). While Clara had been gradually getting a sense of her own importance in this world along her journey, Sugar Plum spells it out for her. She also enlists Clara’s help in the war against the Fourth Realm and Mother Ginger.
Ah, but all may not be quite what it seems in this land. (Maybe keep that tidbit from the younger viewers going into the movie, but it’s pretty obvious fairly early on which direction things are actually going to go.)
Before Clara’s adventure is over, we get a big, somewhat-bizarre battle for the four realms, complete with a scuffle involving potentially deadly tin soldiers. (If you’ve ever wanted to see Mirren take on robotlike things with a whip, this is your chance.)
Co-directed by Lasse Hallstrom (“My Life as a Dog,” “The Cider House Rules”) and Joe Johnston (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “October Sky”), from a script by the lesser-known Ashleigh Powell, “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” gains and subsequently loses momentum a few times.
Despite no interesting dialogue or plot developments to speak of, the film does seem like it should connect with young audience members, especially girls, who are likely to identify with Clara and all she is feeling.
The 17-year-old Foy, recognizable from roles in 2014’s “Interstellar” and the two installments of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn,” ensures that Clara seems very much like a real girl in a story full of fantasy. You feel for her and root for her from the film’s opening moments.
While veteran superstars Mirren (“Collateral Beauty”) and Freeman (“Going in Style”) don’t get much to do in the movie, the typically terrific Knightley (“Colette”) is mildly annoying in “The Nutcracker.” It would not be unfair to describe her performance as “a bit squeaky.” Then again, this sort of makes more sense when things are said and done.
Wisely, “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” uses some of the familiar music from the famous ballet, as well as that dance format in a key sequence. It’s hard to see the film becoming the same kind of holiday tradition that a performance of the ballet is for so many families, but time will tell.
It may be a tough nut to crack for grownups, but it’s a beautiful film anchored by an almost-as-beautiful performance.