A Wrinkle in Time Review

   

     Despite what is stereotypically seen as a bad film is one that is just made for the sake for soulless cash and nothing more, there have been times were a movie clearly has something more to offer but still unfortunately misses the mark. Sometimes there are movies that have some interesting ideas, great ambition and a good cast and director to boot, but still miss the mark on creating an over-all engaging movie. A Wrinkle in Time is one of those movies, one that has great intentions but sadly doesn’t succeed all that well as a film.

     The story centers around a girl named Meg, who is having trouble with her life after her father disappears suddenly during his research on different dimensions. Things change when three mysterious figures come into her life to not only help find her father, but help her discover herself while having her try to save their own universe. The film’s ultimate goal is one of the few elements that really shine through with its overall theme and message about accepting oneself. It is a message seen many times before, but the way this film executes it is very well done, giving a different way of showcasing how one shouldn’t strive for perfection and try to love them for who they are. It is an important message for kids to learn and the film does it in a very mature and thoughtful way. However, as good as the message is, the story over-all doesn’t impress, as the film focuses too much of its time on exposition. Unlike something like a Nolan movie, where there is a lot of exposition but still manages to be interesting, Wrinkle in Time doesn’t have the inventive world building or tight script to really make the film’s exposition that exciting. Most of the film is just talking about these ideas but not written in a way that’s as engaging as it should be, or in a way where it really fleshes out the film’s characters. It’s a shame to see this film not fleshed out that much because Disney could have had a very fun and inventive science fiction movie on their hands, but it just ends up surprisingly dull.

    

      The other downside to Wrinkle in Time is that the characters don’t fare much better in terms of making the film as engaging as it should be. The main character of Meg isn’t the most developed character out there as we get the basics of her backstory but the way her character progress through the film, doesn’t feel as natural as it should be. The actress playing her does a fine job however, same with most of the other child actors in this film, they’re given a script that makes them talk more like adults rather than children and sometimes it can feel really flat in terms of performance. As for the mythical characters played by Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon and Oprah, for how much of a presence they have in the film their characters are also seen as kind of flat. They’re not given enough screen time to really be developed and they don’t have much of a personality asides from spouting exposition and having a minor quirk that doesn’t really go anyway. Whenever they do have some personality, they come across as ridiculously over the top, but then again with their outlandish costumes, it can be hard to take some of their dialogue seriously. Chris Pine gives the best performance in the film, being not too over the top and also having a bit of heart to his character, with him being the loving father that couldn’t be there due to circumstances. However, that’s as best as the film goes with characters, even if it story was a bit messy, if the characters were a bit more memorable, then it would have made up for some of the shortcomings.

    

  Considering a big budget special effects style movie like this doesn’t come around every so often, you would think the film would be very impressive to look at, and in some ways yes but in other ways no. The film does manage to be incredibly bright and colorful at various points, and it can be very pleasing the eyes and production design wise, there are many elements that look visually unique. When a film uses something in the vain of drawings as an effects sequence, then there definitely needs to be some credit given where it is due. Where the film falls short however is that there are also a decent amount of moments where it goes on effects overload.  It feels like a lot of sci-fi films were it just seems to have an overabundance of CG at numerous points, even if it is well design; it doesn’t quite feel that real. It also doesn’t help that there is some choppy moments of editing at points, too many close up shots of characters faces, lackluster green screen and one of the unintentionally weirdest visual moments ever put in a recent blockbuster. It’s a shame considering that Ava Duvernay has proven herself to create a competent movie in the past, but here, it doesn’t quite mesh as well as it should have.

     Wrinkle in Time is far from an awfully put together movie but it does feel like it was some wasted potential. Its intentions are great and it has a lot of ambition, but as a film, it just doesn’t go together as smoothly as it should. With its weird moments and ambitious ideas however, it could potentially be a cult film in the vain of other Disney Live action movies that try to do something different. But as it stands, it just comes across as a bit of a dull mess that could have been cleaned up much better than how it was put together.