A Wrinkle in Time Film Review

A Wrinkle in Time Film Review

A Wrinkle in Time

Meg Murry and her little brother, Charles Wallace, have been without their scientist father, Mr. Murry, for five years, ever since he discovered a new planet and used the concept known as a tesseract to travel there. Joined by Meg's classmate Calvin O'Keefe and guided by the three mysterious astral travelers known as Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, the children brave a dangerous journey to a planet that possesses all of the evil in the universe.

Disney’s push for ethnic minorities has been impressive of late, with Black Panther showing that film is boundless and every generation deserves there own hero. This change continues with Ava Duvernay’s adaptation of L’Engle’s bestseller A Wrinkle in Time, bringing a diverse cast to big screens across the country. But, does it work? in today's climate making a relatable adventure for children across our country is a hard task. The Academy-Awards commended Eva Duvenay's 2014 film, Selma, throwing into the web of Hollywood's most sought-after filmmakers. So, all eyes are on the talented female director to create a potential franchise in a wrinkle.

Wrinkle in Time follows young Meg Murry (Storm Reid), living with her mother Dr. Kate Murry (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), father Dr. Alex Murry (Chris Pine) and younger adopted brother Charles (Deric McCabe). One day, Meg’s father disappears after discussing the possibility of traversing the galaxy in seconds. Four years after his disappearance, Megan gets bullied at school and causes so much trouble while fighting for her ideals. But, the arrival of  Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey) changes her life as they all look for the Dr. Alex Murry.

Along with one of Meg’s classmates, Calvin O’Keefe (Levi Miller), Meg and Charles Wallace set off with the three Mrs. to track their father’s footsteps across the universe. It's revealed that Dr. Murry discovered a mean of travel called tessering, which can fold space in order to travel distances instantaneously. But while doing this Murry, falls into a pit of great evil simply called It. It's up to his children to figure out how to get there dad home.

A Wrinkle in Time

The Wrinkle in Time is an oddly paced, messy and CGI heavy disappointment that is poorly translated into a two-hour slump of entrainment with no gravitas.  Despite some outstanding performances from Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and Oprah Winfrey nothing in this big-budget adaptation works together. Ava Duvenay tries her best in making a complex narrative work in live-action, but the end result is just a blur of visual effects and poorly written characters.

The story of A Wrinkle in Time is far-fetched and intriguing but the film hardly attempts to delve into complex themes, instead just pushes forced world-building down our throats. Leading, to some dreadfully slow pacing which makes the exciting nature of space travel feel boring. Making this a hard film to sit down and enjoy, because its forcibly building a world without a warrant. While the visual flair adds another layer to a pretty generic plot - the overuse of CGI feels at odds with DuVernay’s attention to emotion.

A Wrinkle in Time lays the groundwork for an exciting, high concept adventure with diverse cast members but ends up not living up to potential. Meg Murry (Reid) without a doubt is the most intriguing character within the two-hour epic, as her character Is smart and emotive - bringing a new hero for this generation to the table. Miller, the film’s companion to Meg gives hope and a romantic connection which allows the action scenes to have more emotion. But the weakest characters are the once without connection to our main leads, as they come off as annoying and vehicles for exposition.

All in, A Wrinkle in Time had serious potential in giving children a well rounded female lead and high-concept sci-fi with intriguing characters. But it all falls short due to inconstancy in tone and frankly laughable CGI action. Ava Duvernay's direction is wasted on another failed attempt for Disney too, create a solid universe for future generations. It’s frustrating because of her talents, but perhaps more effort will be put in to utilize such a creative person next time. Because this was just boring and unoriginal for a 2018 kids film