Upon leaving the theater after watching A Wrinkle in Time (2018), another installment in Disney's visual effects-laden family flick lineup, I found myself appreciating the story for 2015's Tomorrowland about dreamers and hope for the future more than ever.
Besides the title, key characters, and basic story elements, I didn't find anything in this movie that remotely resembled a big-screen adaptation of a classic book. Instead, what I got was exactly what I perceived from the trailers: Disney's pixie dust-coated propaganda on family values and optimism though science and technology being heavy-handedly preached to the audience.
Don't get me wrong; I admire director Ava DuVernay's efforts to evoke emotion through the relationship between the main protagonist (played by Storm Reid) and her father (played by Chris Pine), the film's racially diverse cast, several visual effects sequences, and the performances from Pine, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, and Reese Witherspoon. However, A Wrinkle in Time falters when trying to depend on the child actors' performances, some of whom lack the emotional maturity to play their characters.
The movie follows Meg Murry (Reid), a reclusive girl trying to live with the mysterious disappearance of her father (Pine), an astrophysics professor. One day, a trio of mystical beings named Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Who (played by Winfrey, Witherspoon, and Kaling, respectively) arrive and encourage Meg, her younger adopted brother Charles Wallace (played by Deric McCabe), and classmate Calvin O'Keefe (played by Levi Miller) to embark on a quest to find and return her father home. I want to clarify that I have not read Madeleine L'Engle's novel, and am judging the movie on its own merits.
Reid is a solid actress who excels at portraying an introverted and secretive character. With some polishing, she can be the next big thing. Winfrey, Witherspoon, Kaling, and Pine are the real stars, for their presence provides the necessary gravitas, warmth, and quirkiness required for their characters. On the other end of the spectrum, the casting of young Deric McCabe as Charles Wallace is about as miscast as Jake Lloyd's performance as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).
The film's visual effects are hit-and-miss because while the landscape shots utilizing New Zealand's rolling hills are eye-popping, the mythical creatures' computer-generated imagery and designs are too apparent, and could have used some animatronic work to appear more imaginative and convincing. The film's editing is, at times questionable. For instance, during a critical scene of exposition, pop music can be heard in the background. This editing choice made me feel like I was watching a Disney Channel music video instead of a cerebral journey through the galaxy.
Despite its best intentions, A Wrinkle in Time is a disappointing mixed bag of tremendous yet underutilized performances from the adults, lukewarm child performances, sometimes visually stunning effects, well-intended yet heavy-handed themes, and a severe case of Disneyfication. Is it worth the viewers' time on Disney+? Maybe the younger ones'.
Final Score: 4 out of 10
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