A Wrinkle In Time (Review)
A Wrinkle In Time Uses Fanciful Elements as A Substitute for Storytelling.
Just a heads up, I wasn’t one of those kids who grew up reading A Wrinkle in Time. So, I can’t really speak to how faithful of an adaptation the new Ava DuVernay movie is. However, I can say that it feels like there’s a lot missing from it. The film races along at a breakneck pace trying to fit as many fanciful elements into it as it can. In the end, though, the astounding visuals feel like they’re just a cover for bad storytelling.
I have little doubt that kids will enjoy A Wrinkle in Time since it’s clear that they’re the target audience. It’s a child-friendly film with an underdog hero that rises to the occasion to basically save the universe. Grown-ups, on the other hand, might not be as enthralled with the film. The characters are poorly developed, to say the least, and at least one of them doesn’t even seem to serve any purpose to the overall plot. The other two, well, they come off a little more insufferable than charming, especially Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe).
While the film boasts an impressive cast with the likes of Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, and Reese Witherspoon. However, this doesn’t make up for the fact that most of the characters are simply glossed over. It almost feels like the movie expects audiences to already know who they are. In other words, it’s a poorly adapted movie that not even a 20 foot Oprah Winfrey can save.
Visually speaking, A Wrinkle in Time is spectacular. From a giant Oprah to alien planets to some really trippy sequences featuring altered realities. It’s clear that creating these worlds was the focus of this film and it succeeds wonderfully at that. It’s a vibrant film that focuses on providing a contrast the to villainous Darkness. This isn’t just evident in the visual effects either, the costuming and makeup are completely out of this world, especially when it comes to the three Misses (Winfrey, Witherspoon, and Kaling). There’s clearly a ton of effort that went into making them as whimsical as possible, hence the numerous costume changes they go through.
They say that a hero is only as good as it’s villain, which probably explains why the characters played by Storm Reid, Deric McCabe, and Levi Miller are so forgettable. The big bad in this movie is an abstraction, an idea. It’s hard to root for the heroes when there isn’t a face to envision them punching. Sure, it takes on a few forms in the film, but none of them are especially menacing and come off more goofy than anything else. I can certainly get behind the idea that the film was going for, but as far as the execution, it leaves a lot to be desired.
A Wrinkle in Time is a movie that has its heart in the right place. It’s an inspiring story about a girl who has to embrace her faults in order to find her place. That alone seems like the kind of movie I’d want to take my kids to (if I had them). However, it comes across as cheesy more often than not because it manhandles these themes. It tries desperately to meld sentimentality with science fiction, something that doesn’t work out in the film’s favor. Like I said, its heart is in the right place, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a movie with heart.
In a lot of ways, this film has a lot of great parts making it up, but it never manages to become bigger than the sum of them. There’s little doubt that Ava DuVernay is a talented director and the members of the cast are some of the best in Hollywood. Everything feels a little off though. As if in the effort to tackle such a beloved novel, they focused more on fan service than good storytelling or exposition. While the visuals can be a little overwhelming at times, A Wrinkle in Time ends up underwhelming in every possible way.
