The Nutcracker And The Four Realms Is Rich In Style But Lacking In Substance

     

      In the case of all the films that came out in the fall of 2018, The Nutcracker And The Four Realms is an interesting case as the film can best be summed up as a misfire. What was originally intended to be a family-friendly fantasy adventure, that was hoped to become a box office smash hit in the same vein as Chronicles Of Narnia : The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrbobe and fill the void of the lack of a Disney Star Wars film last winter, The Nutcracker And The Four Realms ended up being a box office flop, grossing only $54 million domestically and $173 million worldwide on a $120 million budget. The film was also heavily panned by critics upon its release with criticisms aiming at the lack of dance routines and a strong enough story that should've transported audiences into another world, making the film itself appear to be hollow despite being visually appealing. Much like Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle In Time, The Nutcracker And The Four Realm suffers a similar fate in terms of being both a critical and financial misfire with the actual film feeling like a mixed bag. While The Nutcracker And The Four Realms is not as terrible of a film as audiences are led to believe and even comes across as being charming and heartfelt at times, its story lacks the depth and emotional pull to really make it connect with audiences. It also suffers from being far too similar to other classic fantastical adventures such as The Wizard Of Oz, Alice In Wonderland, and Chronicles Of Narnia, that the film doesn't appear to have enough originality of its own to make it special outside of its visual appeal.

       Based on E.T.A Hoffman's classic short story titled "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" as well as Marius Petipa's and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker​, the plot for The Nutcracker And The Four Realms focuses on a young teenage girl (Played by Mackenzie For) searching for a key to a silver egg that contains a magical gift. While doing so, she ends up following a golden cord, leading to a mysterious parallel universe in which she meets a young soldier (Played by Jayden Fowor -Clark), a horde of mice and the regents who preside over three magical realms. Together the young girl and soldier enter a fourth dark realm to bring back the key, which contains the power to restore universal harmony. The plot for The Four Realms is an intriguing and promising one as it has the potential to make for a great fantasy​ adventure. The story has all the ingredients to make it connect with audiences such as a young female character that audiences can connect with and sympathize early on with her struggling to get past her mother's death, which is shown to affect her relationship with her father. The film feels like a holiday version of The Wizard Of Oz and Chronicles of Narnia rolled into one with a similar plot structure involving the young female character Clara Stahlbaum befriending a young African-American soldier named Philip, who ends up accompanying her on her journey in a style similar to Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens. Whereas the main characters have potential to be interesting, they come across as feeling generic and bland despite the good performances the actors deliver. The same can be said for Kiera Knightley's role as Sugarplum with her characters twist being seen a mile away despite the actress performance stealing the show. The biggest problem with The Nutcracker is not the films acting performances nor the visual structure of it, but how formulaic and routine it's story comes across as feeling. Outside of the movies visuals and technical elements, the film doesn't offer anything new in terms of breaking new ground in the storytelling department with the plots strongest elements already been seen before (And in most cases done better) in other fantasy films. What saves the film from completely falling to pieces is the charm, sincerity, and heart that the actors bring to the story as well as the majestical feel that directors Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnston brings to the screen, making The Nutcracker And The Four Realms a serviceable fantasy film that with the right improvements, could've been a great one.

      In terms of the films acting, the performances carry the film and help bring some much needed life to the story. The cast here is strong and does the best job they can of bringing enchantment and energy to to their roles. Mackenzie For is a great choice for the main role and does a very good job playing Clara as she believably conveys her characters strengths and vulnerabilities, while making her sympathetic to the audience. Jayden Fowor -Clark does an equally impressive job playing the young soldier, who befriends and aids Clara on her journey. Both work well off each other and show strong chemistry, making their characters likable and interesting to watch. Kiera Knightley's performance is over-the-top and can be hard to take seriously, but given the type of character she's playing, she does a solid job and makes the best of what she's given. She brings a sense of fun and wickedness to her character, almost feeling like an attempt to make up for the writings shortcomings. The same can be said for Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman in terms of giving their best with their minor roles. Considering how talented both actors are, one wishes they were giving more material to work with. Matthew Macfayden is effective as Clare's father Mr. Stahlbaum, though audiences don't get to experience much of his character to feel the pain he endures as he tries to maintain Christmas tradition with his kids without their mother present. Elle Bamber does well as Clare's older sister Louise in the beginning with her character appearing to help look after the family, particularly Clare due to the absence of their mother. The cast as a whole is appealing and give the audience glimpses of a different type of movie, that the film could've been had the scriptwriting been stronger. Despite the issues with the script, the audience feels the actors genuinely trying to add something special to the film with them succeeding for the most part in terms of giving the film an ounce of fun and magic. Whereas much criticism can be directed towards the writing aspect of the film, the performances for the most part are on point.

      In terms of directing, filmmakers Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnston, whose best known for handling family films such as Honey I Shrunk The Kids, The Pagemaster, October Sky, Jurassic Park lll, Hidalgo, and Captain America: First Avenger, succeeds in creating a visually appealing world that serves as being pure eye candy. Originally beginning with Hallstrom as the films director with Joe Johnston later brought in to do massive reshooting (Probably due to the studio's lack of enthusiasm with the films earlier cuts), Johnston does a good job of creating an atmosphere with the film that feels enchanting and magical, giving the movie a true holiday feel to it. One feels like he directed this film with the family audience in mind, like the director imagining a family could watch this type of film during the holiday season and be drawn into the world presented in the film. At times, it almost feels as if Johnston knows the script isn't fully fleshed out and works hard to make up for it's shortcomings by giving audiences an experience similar to watching Chronicles of Narnia with that world being breathtaking to watch. In terms of the films technical aspects such as costume design, make up and art-set decoration, The Four Realms is on point and impressive considering some of the sets in the film are real and not CGI. In terms of creating a beautifully detailed world, Johnston and the team pull it off in that regard with a pace that makes the film feel like it flies by with it's 100 minute running time. However for a story that aims to be an epic fantasy story like Narnia or LOTR for Christmas, it needed to be longer with more character and story elaboration. The score by James Newton Howard is an added plus to the film as it works to not just set the tone for the film, but bring emotion and a genuine holiday feel to the film. Considering that the film is based on an actual ballet, Johnston does a good job of bringing the story to life on the big screen blending both the music and the story together.

      The films script by Ashleigh Powell does a serviceable job of putting the story on the big screen despite it being the films main source of issues. The problem with the script is that it's full of generic cliches that feel familiar to audiences with them already being done before in other fantasy movies with similar plot structures mirroring The Wizard Of Oz with a young girl going on a mystical journey, that helps transform her into the person she's destined to be. The subplot involving the absence of Clare's mother feels like a tired old cliched, that's been done to death in other Disney films, as well as the conflict between her and her father over the mothers absence, which is conveniently resolved at the end of the movie for no other reason than to just patch things up for stories sake. The whole subplot involving Clare being encouraged to be the person her mother was as well as the person she's destined to be lacks an emotional punch mainly due to the fact that the subplot wasn't developed very well for audiences to care, along with the fact that they've already seen this plot before in other fantasy films such as Harry Potter and Star Wars with the main character being told about their parents and the expectation for the young character to follow their parents legacy. The story lacks genuine suspense and twists that aren't predictable nor easy to guess with Sugarplums reveal being a prime example. The films scriptwriting can best be described as being by-the-numbers with subplots and characters lacking true depth to make audiences genuinely care about what's happening on the screen. The films plot can basically be summed up as young female character discovering that she's meant to play a savior type role in a new world. She even has moments where she doubts herself and later discovers her confidence, which allows her to ultimately lead the fight for freedom. The story lacks its emotional power because it feels typical rather than blowing audiences away with its narrative. As gorgeous as the film looks visually, it fails to transport the audience into the world it's showing nor make the audience connect with any of the characters besides Clare, whose easily the strongest developed character with Louise being second. Clare is presented as being a young girl that possesses compassion, ingenuity, intelligence, and a strength which beguiles her age. The script ultimately makes the film miss that sense of awe that the audience feels when characters such as Clare discover these enchanting worlds for the first time as well as the emotional connections established between the characters. In regards to the film being faithful to its source material, The Nutcracker And The Four Realms honors the classic story while upgrading it for today's audiences with the inclusion of the main characters along with utilizing old ones.

      As a retelling of the classic story, The Nutcracker And The Four Realms is fresh and well-intentioned, but suffers from writing that feels unfinished. What makes the film watchable is the sentimentality that went into telling this story as well as the well-blending of the films visual scenery, the likable acting performances from the cast, and the films heartfelt score. This is a movie that needed to be much longer than its actual running time in order for it to truly connect with audiences the way it was meant to. What audiences ultimately got is a glimpse of what could've been an even greater story, had it been given the proper treatment. Instead they have to settle for what's a serviceable and mildly entertaining fantasy adventure, that could've been amazing. If one enjoys fantasy films such as Chronicles Of Narnia, The Wizard Of Oz, or last years The Wrinkle In Time, perhaps they will find some enjoyment with The Nutcracker And The Four Realms as the film has elements that make it work despite its misgivings. It's not as uneven and frustrating to watch as Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland as there's more to appreciate here. As a film to watch with the family during holiday season, it will dazzle the children but leave older audiences with more to be desired from it. One of 2018's biggest misfires, which is a shame because it had the right elements needed to make it a memorable fantasy epic, instead it ends up being watchable but ultimately forgettable. The Nutcracker And The Four Realms is a film that reaches for the stars, but misses them due to the lack of passion that the films writing suffers from.

Final Verdict: If one is looking for a family friendly fantasy epic to watch during the holiday season, watch Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe instead. If one wants a more impactful adventure that has the female character going on a wild adventure and becoming a savior type character, The Wizard Of Oz is a film that pulls off the narrative better.