The Nutcracker and the Four Realms


Well, Disney tried to kickstart the holiday season with its new take on the old Nutcracker tale, but unfortunately it falls flat with subpar characters, a forgettable plot, and not much substance to sustain its 100-minute runtime. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms starts off centering around what most Disney Christmas movies tend to center around, family, and it is this message of family that follows the heroine of this journey to fight forward when she discovers a magical realm filled to the brim with snow and wonder. It is in this world where she discovers that she is a princess and that her mother created this world as a young girl, but that an evil woman by the name of mother Ginger is out to cause evil in the four realms.
            Overall, there wasn’t much that I enjoyed about this. Keira Knightley is lovely as The Sugar Plum Fairy, and the visuals can be a bit stunning at times, but there just isn’t much depth to this film to make it memorable or enjoyable. I did enjoy how strong all of the female characters were presented. We’re so used to seeing knights in shining armor that it was refreshing to see so many female characters taking the central battle roles here. Other than that, I just didn’t find much that stuck with me when I left the theater.
            Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston do a fine job directing the film, but I still felt that it struggled with its pacing, as it is painfully slow at times. Another issue I seemed to have with it, and possibly the biggest problem I had, was the theme of the film. There were moments when it was nice and magical, and suddenly the film would take a drastic dark turn. It felt like someone doing an imitation of a Tim Burton film. The cast is also none too special outside of Keira Knightley. Nobody does a poor job, but some performances do come across wooden. With a mundane screenplay, wooden performances, and a predictable plot, consider this one Disney movie you can skip this year. I’m giving The Nutcracker and the Four Realms a 5.5/10.

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