Disney's newest family adventure A Wrinkle in Time is a conundrum. While it’s the studio’s best-intentioned and socially conscious movie in years, it’s also Disney’s most boring and disappointing.
For a company famously known for their grand fantasy worlds, the story is predictable and shallow. The breezy tale follows eighth-grader Meg (Storm Reid) and her brother following celestial beings through time and space to find their scientist father.
Even in such a colourful and optimistic world, the designs are cute instead of truly creative. Equally unrealistic is the dialogue; the lines are inauthentic, feeling awkward and forced. Nobody doesn’t just talk like this in fantasies. Nobody talks like this ever.
What’s really sad is how positive the film’s morals are. Like the 1962 source novel of the same name, this story has great morals and messages for all ages. The story shows a heroic, introspective girl learn about the power of self-confidence, bullying, trust and vulnerability.
Unfortunately, all of these morals go to waste. The “adventurous” plot is both slow and incomplete. A majority of the characters are unnecessarily cruel or unlikeable. The frequent, dense chats about theoretical physics are mumbled - or worse, there isn't an explanation at all.
Without answers, the audience can’t understand what’s going on. Thankfully, these scientific elements aren’t so bad viewers become lost from the action. But that’s only because the story is so simple you’d be falling behind on purpose.
The worst part is unclear
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where A Wrinkle in Time went wrong. Director Ava DuVernay is treating the concept with heart. The cameras do a good job navigating the elaborate sets. The movie even has hints of her previous great films like Selma and 13th.
Just as the annoying scenes are truly awful, the interesting scenes are extremely satisfying. It’s indescribable frustrating to have the movie inconsistently swing from enjoyable to dull. Sadly, Wrinkle swings far and often.
Star Reid as Meg and Deric McCabe as her younger brother Charles Wallace are great actors. Totally opposite from what the marketing suggests, these two carry the movie. Most of the adults take turns for short scenes in the spotlight.
Hollywood desperately needs more movies as progressive and diverse as this one. It’s a shame it's also strange and unexciting. Some are just weird - even though Oprah Winfrey is advertised as the star, she’s in less than 30 minutes of the movie. And for half of that, she’s a 20-foot tall space monster from a bad 80s music video.
Director DuVernay wrote in 2016 that the bar for equality in Hollywood wasn’t when more female directors were hired. The bar is when women can make bad movies and still get hired to make new ones afterward.
The wildly talented DuVernay may now be standing at the precipice of that day. There’s a lot missing from A Wrinkle in Time, but hopefully, there are better things to come in the future. It’s too bad audiences can’t bend a tesseract and see that better movie today.
A Wrinkle in Time
1 1/2 out of 4 stars
PG, 1hr 49mins. Family Fantasy Adventure.
Directed by Ava DuVernay.
Starring Storm Reid, Deric McCabe, Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and Oprah Winfrey.
Now Playing at Film.Ca Cinemas, Cineplex Winston Churchill and Cineplex Oakville & VIP.
