What to watch this week on the big & small screens
Fantasy adventure. With Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy and Misty Copeland. Directors: Lasse Hallström & Joe Johnston. 7-9PG V. IT’S CHRISTMAS and young Clara Stahlbaum (Foy from The Twilight Saga) and her siblings must come to terms with the death of their mother, while their dad (Pride & Prejudice’s Matthew Macfadyen) pretends nothing has changed.
Then, while searching for hidden presents during a Christmas party at the home of her godfather (Morgan Freeman), Clara finds herself in an alternate world created by her mother – where Clara is a princess.
But this world – with its three reigning regents, Hawthorne (Overboard’s Eugenio Derbez), ruler of the Flower Realm; Shiver (an unrecognisable Richard E Grant), ruler of the Snow Realm; and the Sugar Plum Fairy (Knightley), ruler of the Sweets Realm – is under threat.
It’s up to Clara and her new nutcracker friend, Philip ( Jayden Fowora-Knight), to stop Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), regent of the fourth realm, from destroying their home.
This adaptation of the 1816 short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by ETA Hoffmann is visually dazzling, with magnificent scenery and lavish costumes. It’ll probably captivate young viewers but adults might feel they’ve seen it all before.
The plot is thin, with holes big enough to fall into, and rather predictable, but with its heartwarming story, empowering message for girls, spectacular fantasy world and festive atmosphere it should make for an entertaining trip to the movies for the whole family.