“A Wrinkle in Time” has all the elements to be a great film: Adapted from a beloved book; director Ava Duvernay; Oprah Winfrey, Reese and Mindy; and a $100 million dollar budget. But this story about a young girl on a journey to find her scientist father, falls short of expectation.
Our young heroine Meg (played by Storm Reid) and her brilliant adopted brother Charles Wallace are bullied outcasts taken on intergalactic travels by 3 unique women—"Mrs. Whatsit", " Mrs. Who" and "Mrs. Which". They encourage Meg to be brave and make the right choices throughout the various physical and mental challenges that come their way. The siblings are joined by Meg’s classmate Calvin, who makes no secret that he likes her. The trio is also warned to stay together, but eventually Meg is separated from the guys. It’s her moment to show how brave she can be.
The theme of love being constant, no matter the distance is a powerful one that is shared via the loyalty between the kids and their mother (played by Gugu Mbatha- Raw) . This message is overpowered in the film by so much visual CGI. Their backstory at the start of the film was much more interesting. The kids contend with several villians— they come and go throughout the story. ( I’ll have to read the book to see how faithful screenwriters Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell were to it.) which might be another problem.
I am a big fan of Ava and hope that Disney will give her another story to direct. She is brilliant with intimate, human stories and it’s hard to compete with special effects that have to take up more of the screen time.
- L.C. May
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