Less than a dozen weeks into the movie year of 2018, and a couple of flicks squarely aimed at the tots have scored some big box office bucks and surprisingly strong critical praise (that lil’ Paddington Bear, in his second feature adventure, is still at a whopping 100 percent at Rotten Tomatoes). So, the folks at the “mouse house” are eager to jump into the arena, though the smash BLACK PANTHER is from their Marvel Studios branch. Now, this new flick is from their Disney Pictures banner, not Pixar (recent Oscar winner COCO), or Disney Studios Animation (like the previous year’s winner ZOOTOPIA), or even Disney Nature with its “real life” animal extravaganzas. Now many of the Disney Pictures stamped films have been set in the world of sports like MCFARLAND USA (track and field) or QUEEN OF KATWE (chess) or have been big live-action versions of the classic animated features such as THE JUNGLE BOOK and last year’s megahit BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. And then there’s the Jack Sparrow PIRATES franchise (which may never sink). This time they’re adapting a much-beloved piece of children literature, hoping to repeat the box office bonanza from 2005’s first NARNIA outing. We’ll see if a new trilogy can be culled when Disney, along with a lauded film-maker and a true multi-media superstar, brings to life Madeleine L’Engle’s A WRINKLE IN TIME.
The tale’s main character is the brilliant teenager Meg Murry (Storm Reid), the daughter of equally brilliant parents Kate (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Alexander (Chris Pine). We first meet them as they prepare for the arrival of Meg’s kid brother Charles Wallace. Mr. and Mrs. Murry have been trying to convince the scientific community that long distance space travel can be accomplished, not with rockets and thrusters, but through the power of the mind to cause a jump, or wrinkle, in the vast distances. Years later, Alexander disappears without a trace, perhaps while proving his theory. Unfortunately this helps makes Meg and now six year-old Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) outcasts at school, derided by fellow students and teachers alike. One evening, as Kate and Meg discuss the playground altercation that sent Meg to the principal’s office, Charles invites an eccentric adult into their home, a woman he calls Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon). After making several odd statements she disappears. Soon afterward, Meg is befriended by a classmate, Calvin (Levi Miller), who finds her fascinating. Charles leads the two to another friend of his who lives in an old run-down house, the even stranger Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), a lady who only responds by reciting famous quotes. Soon the two women are joined by a third, the towering (she hasn’t adjusted her size), Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), who tells the children that their father is alive. Their surroundings begin to simmer and quiver as if the fabric of their dimension is unraveling. The three kids, along with the magical trio, burst though their undulating world and arrive on the planet Uriel, a beautiful utopia. Mrs. Which explains that she used a device known as the “terreract” and “tesserd’ them to this place. But papa Murry is not here, rather he’s somewhere far from Uriel, a planet of darkness known as Camazotz. With the help of Mrs. Whatsit’s sometimes beau the Happy Medium (Zach Galifianakis). Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace will enter “the Darkness”, face down the “Red-Eyed Man” (Michael Pena), and try to locate their long-lost father.
This fantasy journey is firmly grounded by the compelling confident performance of Ms. Reid in her first (of many, no doubt) starring role. Particularly in the opening Earth sequences, she conveys the pain of being an outsider, yearning to fit in while knowing she may be destined for more than just popularity. The confusion at her new surroundings is all in her eyes and movements, along with her fear, then the hesitation giving way to determination. Later she experiences the first tugs of romance, stirred by Calvin played by Miller as a true “teen dream” right out of Tiger Beat Magazine (it’s still around, really). But all is not perfect, as we see his torments from his perfectionist pop. Plus he eagerly succumbs to the Darkness’s temptation, needing to be rescued by the level-headed Meg. McCabe, as the precocious “third wheel” kid brother has energy to spare, bouncing between obnoxious and endearing within seconds. The movie’s marketing department may be banking on the magical ladies played by some show biz heavy-hitters. Winfrey projects the right amount of gravitas, even as she hovers above at over thirty feet in her first scene (“The Amazing Colossal Oprah”, to borrow a “B” movie classic’s title). Later she provides much-needed plot points while being the stern mother (or the “Moe”) to her flighty sisters. Witherspoon is light, ethereal beauty as Whatsit, playful and odd, but never threatening (when she is lead into the Murry home). Kaling is dream-like, a delightfully dotty aunt as she runs along the fleeing flowers and uses bits of trivia for her dialogue. Galifianakis is a prickly, but endearing “drill sergeant”, putting Meg through her “paces” and trying to unleash her potential. Pena is an affable “genie-like” pixie, who reveals his true colors with frightening glee. Back at the homestead, Pine is a playful and passionate papa, who delights at his children as his peers reject his life’s work. And Mbatha-Raw is a nurturing matriarch, nearly overwhelmed at sole parental responsibilities while mourning the loss of her partner and soul mate. Solid support is provided by MOONLIGHT’s Andre Holland as Meg’s stern, but understanding principal and Rowan Blanchard as the school’s “queen B” who bullies others to hide her own insecurities.
Director Ava DuVernay leaps from the indie world of SELMA into this big budget film fable with a fairly steady hand after a somewhat rocky opening act. The Earth-bound sequences are marred by extended close-ups, making this widescreen epic feel like an old Perry Mason episode. Perhaps this is used to make the other planets seem more expansive, but the tightly framed scenes almost induce claustrophobia. We are given a visual “breather” once the quest begins, but the principle characters are posed and still, drinking in the CGI wonders along with the audience.The landscapes are lovely as are the bizarre creatures, the floating butterfly like flowers and a soaring dragon with leaf-like skin. The three “missuses” have looks that may work in book illustrations, but the intricate design make-up and billowy “tarp”-dresses become distracting and cumbersome (we wonder when one will get entangled and trip). The script becomes far too precious with the odd speech patterns of the mystical trio, and it often feels too preachy as Mrs. Which delivers many platitudes (ready-made for framing) and solemn life lessons (a bit of humor would be welcome). Some of the imagery is refreshingly dark (the demise of “Red” and the “Stepford” plastic suburbia are creepy), but there’s no great sense of danger (oh, for a cackling witch). Meg Murry’s is such a terrific role model for boys and girls, that it’s a shame that her first outing isn’t more exciting. The wee ones may enjoy seeing this “bedtime” tale come to life, but the sluggish pace may cause the older audience to wish they could “tesser” and make another crease to forward through A WRINKLE IN TIME.
2.5 Out of 5
