Disney’s Nutcracker a sweet journey
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (PG, 99 mins)
Directed by Joe Johnston and Lasse Hallstrom Reviewed by James Croot ★★★1⁄2
Christmas just doesn’t have the same appeal in the Stahlbaum household this year. The death of family matriarch Marie has cast a pall over the festive season.
However, husband Benjamin (Matthew Macfadyen) is doing his best to stick to their traditions and has even dutifully doled out the presents his wife left behind for their three children.
For Fritz (Tom Sweet) that’s toy soldiers, for Louise (Ellie Bamber) it’s her favourite dress and for Clara (Mackenzie Foy) a Fabergestyle bejewelled egg.
But there appears to be something missing with that final gift. It’s locked and there’s no key – only a cryptic note suggesting that ‘‘all you need is inside’’.
Reluctantly attending the evening’s festivities – a ball – Clara seeks out her godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman), but all he promises is that ‘‘it’s going to be a magical night’’.
The mischievous mechanically inclined Drosselmeyer has created rope trails that each child must follow to receive a reward. However, Clara’s appears to transport her somewhere unexpected.
A combination of ETA Hoffmann’s original short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and Marius Petipa’s subsequent perennially popular ballet The Nutcracker, it’s easy to see what attracted the Mouse House to this tale.
Ashleigh Powell’s adaptation feels like Alice in Wonderlandmeets-The Chronicles of Narnia (with a hint of Labyrinth), as a grieving young woman finds empowerment (and herself) in battling fantastic forces. And yes, there is an element of deja vu about Clara’s journey and the Britishvoiced friends and foes she encounters.
Although, with sumptuous set design, breathtaking costumes and modern-day wizardry (the Mouse King is a particular highlight) it’s hard not to forget its faults and be swept along by this candy-coloured confection.
Then there’s the rest of the ensemble cast. While Jack Whitehall and Omid Djalili struggle as comedic guards and Richard E Grant is undone by his elaborate frosty costuming, Helen Mirren shines as the whipcracking, fun-loving Mother Ginger, and Keira Knightley is virtually unrecognisable as The Sugar Plum Fairy (especially with a voice that’s a combination of Marilyn Monroe and Miranda Richardson in Blackadder II).
But if The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is memorable for one thing it’s as a primer to the ballet. There’s even a recreation of it (narrated by Knightley’s fairy) complete with Fantasia-style visions of the orchestra and closeups of US prima ballerina Misty Copeland (with modern ballet’s enfant terrible Sergei Polunin).
They showcase her fancy footwork and sheer athleticism in a way you wouldn’t see attending a traditional ballet performance.
Not everything about the movie moves so gracefully – like Solo and Bohemian Rhapsody you can almost tell this was a tale of two directors with different visions (here, it’s the man who made The Cider House Rules and the guy who gave us Jumanji) – but it’s still an opulent fairytale that offers plenty of family-friendly fun.