Review: NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS is a Fun Fantasy Adventure Film For The Kids
I wasn't really sure what to expect from Disney's new fantasy film Nutcracker and the Four Realms when I saw it. The trailers for the film offered up some very vibrant CGI heavy visuals, but I was curious to see how this new film version of the story would turn out.
The movie certainly isn't for everyone, but it did turn out to be a decent fantasy adventure movie that the kids might enjoy. If you're looking for a safe movie to take the family to during the holidays then you might want to consider this one.
The movie was inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which was famously adapted as a ballet by Tchaikovsky in the late 19th century.
I will say that this movie wasn't really for me. The Nutcracker isn't my thing so the interest level wasn't very high. That being said, I hoped that the movie would be better than what I was expecting. It didn’t happen, though. The Lasse Hallström (Chocolate) and Joe Johnston (Captain America)-directed film ended up meeting my mediocre expectations, but I'm not really the target market, the kids are!
The movie is filled with lots of colorful dynamic and vivid visuals and there's a lot of wild energy that fills the screen. The characters in the film are amusingly quirky and there's a lot of strange oddball elements that some people might find charming and enjoy. While other might just roll their eyes at the ridiculousness of it.
The film follows Clara (Mackenzie Foy) who is trying to get her hands on a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift from her late mother. “A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman) annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key—which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It’s there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), to retrieve Clara’s key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world.”
This isn’t Disney’s best work, but there is an audience out there who might enjoy it.
