A Wrinkle In Time Is Fun, Bold, Full Of Heart, And Carries A Great Message For Kids

       Much has been said about A Wrinkle In Time since it debuted in theaters last spring. Running a production and marketing budget of around $150 million dollars, the film ended up becoming one of the biggest box office bombs in movie history with losses totaling $131 million, while also receiving mixed to negative reviews from critics. Add to insult, the audience score sits at a ridiculously uncalled for 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. There was only one film that performed worse than A Wrinkle In Time financially last year and that was Mortal Enemies. The reception that the film received from critics was split with some taking issue with the heavy use of special effects and numerous plot holes, while others celebrated the diversity and female empowerment the film was promoting. Having seen the film finally, one can simply say that the final product while not perfect, is much better than what it's reputation gives it and actually serves as being a fun film that's a brave and noble attempt from acclaimed filmmaker of Selma and Netflix's When They See Us, Ava DuVernay to bring a children's fantasy story to life based on popular literature. With A Wrinkle In Time, DuVarney tries and succeeds for the most part in delivering a new type of kids adventure that has heart, imagination, and carries a good message behind it.

      The plot for A Wrinkle In Time centers around a 13-year old girl named Meg (Played wonderfully by Storm Reid), whose both frustrated and heartbroken due to the disappearance of her astrophysicist father (Played by Chris Pine) four years prior during an experiment involving time travel. Facing acts of bullying by classmates and being derided by teachers, she is introduced by her younger brother to three celestial friends serving as guardian angels (Played by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling), who persuade her to take an inter-dimensional journey to find her father. Reading the synopsis for A Wrinkle In Time, one would get the impression that this film serves as being a cross between The Wizard Of Oz and Tron Legacy with the Oz comparison being a young girl transported into a different type of world, that's visually out of this world with the Tron Legacy comparison being her character is also looking for her father much like Jeff Bridges son in that film with the main plot difference being the gender swap. A Wrinkle In Time is guilty of utilizing large amounts of CGI to tell it's story to the point where the cinematography and effects come across as looking awkward at times, but the movie at its core is good-hearted and carries with it a sentimental message, that says the universe creates each person to be unique in their own ways with the ability to save the world. Some of the themes that A Wrinkle In Time's story covers ranges from absent fathers to broken families along with being guided by angels and spirits, science, diversity, love, respect, self-esteem, success, and determination. Watching the film, one feels as if DuVarney shaped this story to speak to young children (Particularly young African-American girls) in hopes of being a story that not only captivates them, but will reach to them on a personal level with words of encouragement and hope for their upbringing as they get older. She even incorporates themes that a lot of children experience in today's generation such as the absence of parental figures in their life as well as unstable and dysfunctional families. She shows the character of Meg as being a young girl, who experiences these themes while building up her own self-esteem and determination to make it on her own with the absence of her father-figure. Her character feels like she's a representation of what typical children of color go experience throughout their upbringing. Despite the many criticisms the film gets for the way it comes across visually, one cannot deny that DuVarney and the cast put their heart into the film as it shows through the performances and story shown.

       Along with the films visuals style, one of the movies strongest points lies within it's performances from the main actors. Newcomer Storm Reid does an impressive job playing the films main character Meg. She perfectly conveys her characters sadness, frustration, and hope that she can find her father again, while growing as a person throughout her journey. Levi Miller also shines as Meg's loyal friend and love interest Calvin, who accompanies her on her intergalactic journey to find her dad with Deric McCabe doing great as Meg's brother Charles Wallace. As far as the performances from the child actors go, they all do a really good job of bringing their characters to life and sharing both natural and believable chemistry together. In the supporting roles category, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling all deliver strong performances as the three main guardians of Meg's character as they guide her on her trip. The three work extremely well off each other and appear to be having a blast contributing to the story. Chris Pine shines in a nice change of pace role as Meg's scientific father, who goes absent throughout most of the movie then reappears two thirds in. Pine brings a sincerity to his performance that makes his character likable despite leaving behind his family for selfish reasons. One takes interest in his relationship with Meg as shown through flashbacks in the first half of the movie. Overall, the cast as a whole ends up being one of the films strongest points as they all do a great job of playing their roles and adding realism to the story.

      The films directing by DuVarney earns credit for creating a visually striking piece of art with a powerful message behind it. She doesn't just bring the story to life, she creates a journey for the films audience to take while leaving it up to them if they wish to do so. Given that this was DuVarneys first real experience in regards to using CGI, she handles it very well though the coloring in certain scenes may come off as being a bit too extreme for some viewers. DuVarney always manages to get the strongest performances out of her actors with this project being no exception. Here she crafts a beautiful tale, that's aimed directly for kids and directs it with confidence in knowing which audience she's aiming for. She crafts a touching and heartfelt story that's about the conquering of ones own insecurities and faults with the antidote being love. Love in the film is presented as being a powerful force ultimately bends both space and time. The only criticism that can be directed at DuVarney's style of directing is the use of CGI in certain scenes comes across as being over-the-top and unnatural compared to other sequences. The films pacing feels appropriate which gives the story the right flow. The films cinematography, costume, art design, and make up are top notch as well as the films moving score by Ramin Djawadi. DuVarney set out to make this a kids oriented film and here she succeeds in creating her own The Wizard of Oz type story, that feels sentimental in the message it delivers to young children.

      The screenplay by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell is solid though has minor issues such as certain subplots feeling rushed and not fully developed. Meg's father leaving his family behind for scientific purposes felt rushed and not as shocking and hard-hitting for the audience as it could've came off had it been elaborated on somemore. Meg has moments where she describes some of the issues her character goes through with the audience being confused at some because there seemed to be no trace of them prior in the story. Despite the film feeling rushed in terms of scriptwriting, the screenplay makes up for it's shortcomings with the powerful themes it tackles. Lee writes the script as if it's one big analogy of life, while never feeling overly preachy in it's aim to teach people how they should properly live and treat others. The film basically says that those watching it should live life by avoiding and becoming disengaged from all the negativity they come across and focus on the positive or the "light". The writers elaborate on the way to do that by living as a good-hearted person, who puts oneself first while believing in their own potential family is also a driving force in the films story as the presence of such is needed in order for one to learn about their worth and be supported. While the scripts themes tower over the rest of the writing, the material itself feels rushed and not as fully developed as it should've been, ultimately taking what could've been a great fantasy film for kids and making it just an entertaining one.

      A Wrinkle In Time is a flawed yet decent fantasy epic for kids, that has an important message to get across to the youth and it does so reasonably and admirably well. The film definitely could've benefitted from more elaboration on some of the scripts elements as well as the restraint of the CGI in some areas of the film, but overall the end result is much better than the reputation people gave this movie. As an adaptation of the classic 1962 novel of the same name written by Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle In Time is a faithful version of the story brought to life on the big screen with both imagination and charm. One cannot deny that the film isn't without it's moments of enchantment, even if the structure of the film comes across as feeling uneven at times. Given that Ava DuVarney tackled her first 100 million dollar budget film as well as a popular piece of English literature, she did reasonably well with the project given to her, especially considering the material itself was always going to be extremely difficult to film. The film has more positives to offer audiences than negatives with the pros being the films stunning visual experience, as well as the value that young kids will find with the films themes and concepts. Perhaps the films biggest flaw is how it expects everyone to think like a child in regards to embracing the concept, as it tries to reach for the stars in terms of being broad and inspiring. The film was hoped to bring in a wide audience but feels like DuVarney always had the film aimed specifically for young girls, who can relate to the character of Meg in terms of their struggles. Perhaps DuVarney saw herself with that character and felt like she knew the right approach to telling the story. Her attempt at taking a complex source material and bringing it to the big screen was fairly successful though not without it's moment of missteps. A Wrinkle In Time is one of the most misunderstood and unappreciated films of 2018. Whereas it struggles in terms of remaining balanced with it's writing, it thrives off the energy and heart the films stars and creators bring to the final product.

Final Verdict: If one is looking for an innocent and fun children's fantasy story with a strong message behind it that's ultimately empowering, A Wrinkle In Time is worth a watch.