A Wrinkle in Time (2018) Review!!!!

Synopsis – After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.

My Take – Disney is often accused for sticking to their Star Wars and Marvel franchises, and for not doing anything original, as a result this second adaption of author Madeleine L’Engle‘s YA classic book, following their forgotten 2003 TV film, has been hotly anticipated since its inception. Especially as the film also marks the first time a woman of color has directed a Hollywood film with a budget in excess of $100 million, a necessity as author L’Engle’s imaginative vision has a reputation within YA and sci-fi circles for its big scale science-cum-spirituality fantasy and director DuVernay’s adaptation required to capture such wonder, all the while also hitting a pitch of emotional intensity that resonates beyond the borders of its huge production cost.

With a cast more racially diverse, a splash of fantastical imagery, even as it controversially stripped it of its Christian themes, with an accomplished director like DuVernay leading the charge along with a script from Jennifer Lee, the screenwriter behind films like Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen and Zootopia, and Bridge to Terabithia’s Jeff Stockwell, this is a film that just seemed destined to become a huge success. Unfortunately, the end result was surprisingly quite different as the film was probably the worst Disney theatrical release I have seen in decades.

The updated script seemed to value style over substance, and just folds under the weight of its notoriously so called un-filmmable source material, dulling the clarity of its vision, and reducing the film to a handful of discombobulated moments. Even a well studded cast is unable to save this wreck, who along with its terrible dialogue, character development, the overuse of CGI, and a convoluted plot, are part of one of the biggest disappointments of year.

The story follows Meg Murry (Storm Reid), a brilliant, but depressed and aggressive middle school student struggling with issues of self-worth and is desperate to fit in. With the sudden disappearance of her father Dr. Alex Murry (Chris Pine), a NASA scientist, four years ago, still haunting her Meg has been trying her best to adjust to normal life with her mother Dr. Kate Murry (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and her younger brother and prodigy Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe). However, things take a drastic turn when Charles Wallace introduces Meg and her fellow classmate Calvin (Levi Miller) to three celestial guides – The Ms’ – who were drawn to the Murry’s home to help find their lost father. Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) along with Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace set off on their formidable quest. Traveling via a wrinkling of time and space known as ‘tessering’, they are soon transported to worlds beyond their imagination and seek help from the Happy Medium (Zach Galifinakis) to help them confront the evil Red (Michael Peña) and the IT (David Oyelowo), Red’s true diabolical form.

Since its publication in 1962, author Madeleine L’Engle‘s novel has gained a reputation for being unfilm able, maybe for good reason, as the book mixes science fiction and Christian theology in an epic odyssey across time, space and the universe – in ways that are endlessly charming to its fans, and frustratingly messy to detractors. While author L’Engle‘s defiantly episodic tale provides as many pitfalls as opportunities for aspiring filmmakers, accordingly, director Ava DuVernay (Selma) winds up getting about as much right as she gets wrong. For starters, the film is absolutely all over the place, from strange attempts at being creepy, which ultimately came across accidentally hilarious, to bizarre attempts at extremely cheesy messages that fell flat on their face. Most importantly, it’s just flat out boring, as the story is told in a disorderly, and confusing manner, with the script falling on the wrong side frequently of cheesy, awkward and twee complete with heavy-handed moralizing.

The film often feels like it’s tripping over its own plot, lurching from one talking-head set piece to the next: characters go missing and return without explanation; introductions are rushed, and its more fantastic elements are treated so vaguely that none of the stakes really hold any weight, maybe because the film is so overwhelmingly shot with close-ups, scenes never really get to breathe long enough for emotional moments to land properly. While the first act of the film showed some potential, as Charles Wallace was set up as an articulate champion of justice type who dressed down two teachers for spreading malicious gossip about him and his family, and then supported his sister, Meg. All this while apparently marshaling the powers that be of the universe to help find their missing father. Meg starts out with some potential too, beating up a particularly vicious bully and walking out on a principal (André Holland) who was trying to tear her down without getting the whole story behind her actions first.

Unfortunately, the whole film falls flat on its face immediately after that and never recovers. Leaving the heavy-handed and insufficiently heartfelt scene with the seer out, Charles Wallace disappears briefly without explanation (only to reappear later also without explanation) during which time Meg and Calvin run through a supernatural natural disaster of sorts and escape in a barely believable (even in the context of fantasy) way. The third act too is oddly devoid of suspense and finds its resolution all too quickly. The film tries way too often to be serious, having dark and dramatic scenes that just don’t work. The reason they don’t work is because half the film tries to be silly, while the other half relies on us caring.

While the message is an admirable one but beats the viewer around the head to the point one feels preached at, as this is another film where love is the answer. It’s clear that director Ava DuVernay wants to transport her audience to new worlds. And to be honest, the visuals and art direction look stunning. In fact, I might have liked this film more if it would have taken it’s time to show us these worlds, and let the atmosphere tell the story. The film boasts delightful scenery, and looks wonderful at every angle. The effects used for the tesseracts – pathways that allow instant travel around the cosmos – look fun and surreal. I found myself especially impressed by the planet Uriel, a utopian garden world with soaring mountains and lush plant life. But all the visual resplendence in the world can’t disguise the messiness of the film’s central themes and ideas.

It is also a shame to watch such tremendous talents being wasted here, as the performances are nothing short of plastic and unconvincing, not to mention patronizing. Leading the film 14 year old Storm Reid, is quite awful, and it also doesn’t help that her character is just bland. Levi Miller (Pan) does fine, but his character ultimately felt far too behind, but not in an endearing way, in a slightly creepy or offbeat way that just failed. In a serious case of miscasting, Deric McCabe, the youngest of the lot overacts shamelessly, although most of the scenes that really don’t work for him would be hard for any child actor to pull off. On top of that, the three goddesses in Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, and Oprah Winfrey are present for a purpose, but they could’ve easily been excluded from the film once they bring the main characters to the places they need to be. They’re quite annoying and simply unnecessary when it came to the story itself. While Witherspoon was solid, but that’s only because she had more things to do with her role than the others. Meanwhile, Chris Pine and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are alright as the loving parents, while Zach Galifianakis, once again hamming it up and Michael Pena is wasted. In smaller roles, Andre Holland, Bellamy Young, Rowan Blanchard and Will McCormack register well. On the whole, ‘A Wrinkle in Time‘ is a rainbow-colored bloated nonsense that unfolds under the weight of its own source material and ends up being one of the year’s most disappointing films.