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Critics give their take on new movies, including “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.”
PG 1:39
The pacing and tone occasionally get as clunky as an old-fashioned windup toy, but Disney’s live-action movie adaptation “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” boasts kaleidoscopic costume designs, whimsical fantasy lands and a clever heroine worth cheering on her journey of self-discovery.
The film version of the beloved ballet also features pop culture phenomenon Misty Copeland, the first African-American female principal dancer for the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. Never underestimate the magnetism of Misty Copeland, especially when she is en pointe.
Screenwriter Ashleigh Powell draws from both German author E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” and the ballet it inspired, by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with the iconic score by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Composer James Newton Howard seamlessly incorporates the familiar music throughout the film.
The story centers on scientific-minded teenager Clara (Mackenzie Foy), who is mourning the death of her mother, Marie. On Christmas Eve, her taciturn father
(Matthew Macfadyen) presents Clara and her siblings with gifts their mother picked before she died. Clara’s is a golden egg, with a note that “everything you need is inside,” but it’s locked and there’s no key. The girl notices that it is embossed with the mark of her godfather, oddball inventor Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman), and resolves to ask him about the missing key at his Christmas party that night.
When the children begin the annual treasure hunt for their gifts, Clara follows a golden cord into the deep recesses of Drosselmeyer’s mansion — and right out a felled, hollow tree into a magical winter wonderland. She finds the key, but it is stolen by a mouse, and while chasing the rodent, Clara encounters a stalwart nutcracker soldier named Capt. Phillip Hoffman (Jayden Fowora-Knight).
Clara learns that her mother was the queen who brought this magical land to life, but in her absence, its four realms are in conflict.
“The Nutcracker” is visually gorgeous and entertaining enough, with some interesting approaches to adapting familiar material, but the results don’t quite cook up as well as you’d like, especially considering the first-rate ingredients.
With its smart, dynamic and nuanced heroine and its empowering fantasy story, I’m eager to take my 8-year-old daughter, Brenna, on a journey to “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” although I wish the movie magic were a little stronger with this particular telling of the tale.
Mackenzie Foy, Morgan Freeman, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren (mild peril)