Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhZ56rcWwRQ
Genre- Science Fiction/Fantasy
Rating- PG-13
Warnings- Some disturbing imagery
The mystical story of, "A Wrinkle in Time" began as a quintet of children's books about a young girl on the search for her father, along with her little brother and a good friend of hers tagging along for the ride. Through this journey, they are guided by three equally odd and comforting female figures that help define this story as its own original piece.
This is all that I have gathered from reading a brief summary about the books because I've never read any of them before; for this review I really wanted to gain a sense of what the original story was about so that way if there were major differences presented in the movie that I felt was unnecessary, I can be at least a bit worthy of commenting on that. Regardless, I haven't gone in depth with the books so any fans reading this, there won't be any mention of comparisons unless absolutely necessary.
I wanted to put that out there just to inform you that I don't want to sound like I know the ins-and-outs of this 1962 series; overall I was just a moviegoer that had no expectations for this fantasy children's movie. The most I knew was that Oprah Winfrey was going to be starring in it, so I looked forward to her appearance; she's a pretty great actress considering her previous work. However, the movie cannot stand on one actress' abilities alone, so there was room for failure and I was ready for anything.
So, did, "A Wrinkle in Time" amaze me with its spectacular plot or did it drive me to wishing this movie was never created on Earth?
Like the books, the film's plot centered around a young girl named Meg Murray (Storm Reid) who is searching for her father, Dr. Alex Murray (Chris Pine) who's been missing for a few years. Throughout the journey, Meg not only focuses on getting her father back, but also learns about the value of loving herself and how important she is to her family.
I believe the plot holds up well on the big screen and has a strong message for viewers that talks about the power of love and what negative power darkness can hold within ourselves.
In the movie, darkness is basically referred to as any bad emotion or action that overcomes us, like jealously. The villain itself is an embodiment of darkness, as there is no true form of this entity, thereby furthering the statement that darkness can control anyone and it is up to us to push past that in order to do right by our world.
I found that to be a huge moral to tackle, but it was done well. I didn't have an issue understanding what characters meant by defeating the darkness, although I had a tiny problem with the implications they were making about it.
Characters would say things like, "if you fight to defeat the darkness in yourself, you can change it in other people," and by the end, you can tell that some characters have automatically transformed into kinder human beings.
I get that it's a fantasy movie so I'm not upset about this idea, but more concerned that kids might apply that to the real world, thinking, "If I behave well, then the boy that always hits me during recess will behave well too!" because unfortunately, the world doesn't work like that.
Yet, the world also doesn't have flying dragons and girls with shiny eyes taking up half of their face,l so I won't knock the movie down a peg for this. I just felt it'd be interesting to point out.
The visual effects were really stunning and popped with vibrant colors, even during some of the more darker settings there was always something on screen to gravitate towards. Yet, I found a couple of things to be unnecessary to the plot; I felt like some scenes that had very well put cinematography ultimately wasn't an important piece to the story. In fact, they brought up questions rather than astonishment by the time the scene was over.
The three mystical woman who guide Meg on her journey: Mrs. Which, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Whatsit (Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon) were nice to look at, had good actresses, and I enjoyed how the three were incredibly diverse in culture.
Mrs. Which was a decent character but I felt like she was lacking in the movie. I wish I could've seen more of her, because I feel like I knew about her the least and she was the most motherly out of the three who had connected to Meg. While there was a scene where she speaks to Meg about her insecurities, it just seems to pass by and she's back to being a tour guide of the supernatural world.
Mrs. Who was a cute character, with her occasional quoting of famous figures that I thought was going to be annoying at first, but it was used at a good pace since it wasn't brought up all the time at every minute, speaking of which...or should I say Whatsit.
Mrs. Whatsit was my least favorite character out of the whole cast, sorry about it.
It's not the actress' fault at all- it's the script- and if the book version depicts Mrs. Whatsit like this then I will not consider reading them anytime soon.
What bothers me about this character is first off, remember when I said some scenes were unnecessary to me and only used for making the movie more stunning? Well, Mrs. Whatsit is involved in a scene where she transforms into this beautiful creature and there's this whole scene of her showing off her abilities in this form, but ultimately this leads to nothing. She doesn't even speak while she is in that form, so it made my brain dissociate the creature from Mrs. Whatsit and made me think, "This cannot be the same character."
The creature should have just been a separate character who helps on the quest, because at least if she was expendable I'd understand; she's not a major character. But with the creature being Mrs. Whatsit, I'm sitting there in the theater like, "Change back! Why don't you do that again?" That was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen and yet nothing came out of it.
Secondly, and most importantly, Mrs. Whatsit is just a bully! I'll try to refrain myself from ranting, but you cannot believe how angry this character made me when she would be on screen. When it came to Meg, Mrs. Whatsit would just insult her left and right, giving her no empathy for her situation, and bringing up her faults in front of her friends and family.
Literally, at one point she says Meg's strengths are her freaking faults! How does that sound? "Jen, the worst things about you are the best because you have no real good qualities," like what the heck?!
I'm not looking at it from face value, okay? There's usually some character that doesn't like the lead for whatever reason and gives them a hard time only to love them in the end. Plus, this sort of character is made out to be immature and silly, but the way Mrs. Whatsit comes across made me physically feel sick.
When you know what Meg has gone through, Mrs. Whatsit looks like a bully who favors everyone else except Meg. Shoot, you might as well have Mrs. Whatsit be a part of the Griffin family from the show, Family Guy, because all she did was make fun of Meg!
Now onto the three main characters who endure this crazy journey, starting with Calvin (Levi Miller), Meg's friend. I'm not sure how he's introduced into the book version, but in the movie he just pops out of nowhere with no background into who he is, except a boy who'll have a romantic interest in Meg because that's what all movies have when you have a friend of the opposite sex join you on an adventure.
Aside from a quick moment of him looking at Meg during school, there is no build up to Calvin growing a connection with Meg and her brother. His background is brought up by other characters who comment on him, saying that he is, "trustworthy, smart, popular" but we don't see any of this.
Look, I don't need to have all of these traits be present in one scene, but at least something other than him silently looking at someone in the beginning. How can I tell he is trustworthy, smart, and popular with that?
Also, Meg spoke to Calvin in the beginning like she knew him for a while but my impression was that they didn't know each other until that moment they met shortly before going on their life-changing adventure. And when they go more into the deeper part of Calvin's life (that Calvin himself doesn't bring up) I can't feel that sorry for the kid, because he's expendable. Thinking back on it, if you take him out of the story nothing would be lost.
Now onto Meg's little brother, Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) who was a 6-year old boy with the IQ of Einstein. Funny thing, I thought he would be someone that I hated- like Mrs. Whatsit hated, but he turned out to be my favorite character. You know how that came to be? It happened during one of the most disturbing scenes I've seen in a children's movie in a long time.
I wish I could describe it more to you, but the whole sequence during the major battle of the movie included a lot of Wallace and it really helped the actor shine; I was impressed by the kid's acting ability. I could tell that he loved being the character, how he relished in being so exuberant with his role. I wish a nice future for him in the acting world because I spot great potential.
The only problem I had was that the story did not expand on Wallace. Judging from his character and how intelligent he is and how comfortable he was with the three guides, I thought somehow he'd be an entity as well- not human. It felt like it was leading up to that, but nothing came of it which made me disappointed.
I saved the female lead for last, Meg. According to what I've read online, Meg in the books is 12-years old but in the movie it appears she's in high school, so the movie definitely changed a couple details here and there in order for the character to be more relatable.
If by relatable the writers meant pitiful then they succeeded, because I felt so sorry for this girl.
On top of the issue with her father leaving and her insecurities stemming from that, she is bombarded with bullies at school, adults who don't take her side when she stands up for herself, and Mrs. Whatsit jabbing at her with comments like, "She's too boring" or "She can't handle this."
This girl has not had her father for years! I would be surprised if any child was mentally stable from that enough to go on this adventure so out of her comfort zone.
What makes this ostracizing worse is that they make Calvin and Wallace all cool about traveling through different planets like this is nothing new for them, so Meg is looked at like an outcast, the one who can't hang with the cool people.
How does it help kids like Meg feel confident about themselves when the people they need help from insult them as well? There's even a secret about the father that changes the relationship between him and Meg drastically, which kind of pushes the fact that no one either understands her or cares about her.
Additionally, they tried to make Meg out to be this girl who shuts people out and is doing badly in school, but I found her to be completely justified in every situation that made her out to be that way. How they should have had it was that they present Meg being dismissive to a kind character and not having interest in her school work instead of standing up for herself when she is being bullied and spouting fun scientific facts her father taught her as a child.
This was not a standoffish girl, she was a sad girl who did what any other person would do when they're being bullied and she had no right to be mocked by some spiritual entity saying that because of her the adventure isn't fun and because of her bad qualities that makes her special!
Despite my long ranting, this movie was not horrible. Yes, it had a couple unlikable characters and I was feeling uncomfortable with all the Meg-bashing in the movie, but the story was interesting enough to keep my attention, the visuals were nice and the acting was pretty good.
There might be a few disturbing scenes, especially during the final battle near the end of the movie that had me a little shaken, but nothing graphic occurs. This film also has a nice message about how we can be a warrior on Earth and keep happiness in our hearts in order to keep the darkness out of our and other people's lives.
Is it worth seeing in theaters? Perhaps, it's visually stunning so the kids will be interested and it's not immature with potty humor so the adults won't be annoyed.
Would I personally watch it again? No, because the whole Meg-bashing part really made me upset and left a bad taste in my mouth. I wouldn't want to feel that pain again. Call me sensitive, but I legitimately don't want to re-watch a movie that has the female lead looking like a loser in the end.
I give, "A Wrinkle in Time" a 3 out of 5 stars.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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We're doing this again? The group of bullies just waiting in the hallway to mock the main character?
That's...just wrong, the note they put on the locker. Meg should have taken that note and given it to the principal to prove her point that she was being bullied.
I don't get it with bullies, can't they just mind their own business? You're at recess, practice some cheerleading.
Is that boy Veronica's boyfriend and he's going to be impressed by Meg and date her?
What time does this movie take place? Because how are you going to invite someone you just met to dinner?
Storm Reid does have really pretty hair. She's a beautiful girl.
Is Charles Wallace a part of this supernatural world? Why else would he been so calm around Mrs. Whatsit?
"There is darkness in this house" Mrs. Whatsit was referring to Meg, like, rude.
Oprah, our beautiful giant leader! Bow down to the queen!
Okay, Mrs. Whatsit. You are getting on my last nerve. You know the mission you are on, I don't care if it's your first mission. This is a little girl who is depressed because her father has been out of her life for 4 years. Show some freaking compassionate, for God's sake. "I'm underwhelmed [by Meg]" oh yeah? Well, I'm overwhelmed by your constant whining!
That is a beautiful design of Mrs. Whatsit as the plant lady, but is that going to be it? Just her flying around? She didn't even talk, what was the point in that?
I can somewhat get Charles Wallace having no problem, but even Calvin has no problem with going through the tesseract? Why is this movie trying so hard to make Meg be the outcast?
What Mrs. Which said to Meg was beautiful. The whole "it took this many years to make you" speech. I'm going to remember that when I'm feeling down.
Is that Zach Galafinakas? *looks it up* It is!
So basically, the ladies are saying because of your wish to find your dad, you might just kill us all. Get the hell out of here! This is complete bull! I am sick of this girl being put down for having totally natural feelings!
Please don't kiss. Please don't kiss. It'll make me uncomfortable.
The scene with the kids playing with the ball outside was really cool, however it wasn't necessary. It also makes the characters look dumb later on with the beach scene when Wallace is brainwashed. The kids with the ball scene showed how the group shouldn't trust anybody, they even announce this as they leave the place, but then right after that they immediately talk to someone who says they know where Meg and Wallace's dad is.
So Wallace is a part of their supernatural world? Is he the true villain? That would be so awesome!
That kid is living for this role! He brought a smile to my face.
How did the dad eat and look nice for 4 years in that hallway?
So the dad did abandon Meg and Wallace? Well that puts a damper on this whole rescue mission.
"She's a better version of you" I hate to use this word, but I find it worthy of what I'm about to say. This movie is triggering to me. A lot of the statements said about Meg and even what she later says about herself saying people don't like her and sometimes she hates herself, that is deep. So deep I just wanted to leave the theater and get fresh air.
I got chills seeing Meg tossed around by those tentacle things. I can see how this can be scary for a child.
This is the first time I've seen Wallace afraid or sad. I wish there was more of that, since apparently he has no connection to this supernatural world, and you know, he's 6-years old.
How did Calvin and the dad get out of there by themselves?
At this point, I'd want no relationship with the dad! Take out the fantasy part, this is a father who purposely abandoned his kids. If I were Meg, I'd still be disappointed. I'd grow up knowing my dad left me to experiment some supernatural world and I had to get him back because he wasn't smart enough to escape. Is this some message to children who's parent left them? That even if they came back, they have done wrong by you and no everything is picture perfect? If so, then why at the end of the movie everything else is picture perfect?!
Is the mother not going to ask where the father has been all these years? Also, in reality she'd be dating or married to someone else by this point.
That was nice, the kids only hugged. That's actually very nice that although there was some romance budding, they didn't kiss.
So is everyone on Earth good people now? Is that the message? Find your father who wanted to leave the family, force him back into your life, and turn even the most evil bullies into sweet people? That's really illogical.
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