'A Wrinkle In Time' Movie Review: A Fairy Tale On The Rocks

Disney has founded their success on reaching out to that tender child inside everybody with each movie they make. Movies like “The Incredibles,” “The Princess Diaries,” and “Maleficent” all present issues that can be critical when delved deep. However, Disney presents them in an innocent, whimsical and meaningful manner that softens and changes the young and old. “A Wrinkle In Time” doesn’t fail to cover all these bases. However, Director Ava DuVernay has chosen to take a more mature path for this fairy tale.
Based on Madeline L’Engle’s 1962 novel, “A Wrinkle In Time” is probably Disney’s most significant book adaptation risk. I haven’t read the book, but there is proof enough that the novel is considerably loved since its conception–although the times were not always friendly to it. So expectations were at the peak. DuVernay has taken an admirable leap. However, a textbook kind of adaptation wasn’t what the world was expecting to get. This aspect is where the fairy tale gets wrinkled.

‘A Wrinkle In Time:’ A-Listed

Before the “It was a dark and stormy night” cliché intro of the book, DuVernay started with an endearing flashback of the Murry family. From a happy memory of a complete family, the film snapped to the present where a storm in the night was keeping up the siblings Meg and Charles Wallace. From there, “A Wrinkle In Time” started out strong because of its characters.
For our heroes, we were reintroduced to Storm Reid as the distrustful Meg and Deric McCabe as the witty Charles Wallace. They’re portrayed as two astonishingly smart kids who’re still grieving the loss of their father in their own ways. Their relationship as siblings is probably the most charming and endearing part of this whole charade.
Without the least bit of warning, “A Wrinkle In Time” pushed the first of the guardians, Mrs. Whatsit, to the spotlight. A-list actress Reese Witherspoon is a pro at eccentric character roles. However, between Mrs. Whatsit’s bedsheet gown and indiscernible personality, it seems that the actress was at a loss. Unlike Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling who fit perfectly like a glove into Mrs. Which and Mrs. Who, Witherspoon and Mrs. Whatsit didn’t click. All throughout the movie, I felt that Mrs. Whatsit was a hidden and unsolved misfit.

Another character that didn’t feel right was Levi Miller’s Calvin. Miller’s acting was fine in the way that he mastered the innocent teen boy flirting. But if the movie had given his character a better premise, it would’ve saved him from a whole load of unnecessary pity. After Calvin comes and coddles to Meg, he is more often than not forgotten.
There were many points in “A Wrinkle In Time” where I felt the movie was hastily jumping over chapters and pages of the novel despite not having read it. These moments were not the typical scene jumps where you don’t even have to think about what happens in between the story. Calvin’s character seems to be a victim of this. His full potential as a supporting character seems to have been ripped off by the movie. That’s why his presence is such an awkward thing to bear. Another example is the first meeting of Meg and her mother with Mrs. Whatsit. When she popped into the Murry’s living room with Charles Wallace telling his family that she was his friend, everybody in the audience seemed to ask “Did I miss something?”

New Perspectives in New Dimensions

Despite some parts of the story flow being quite rocky, Disney has outdone itself in the visual and creative department. “A Wrinkle In Time” has accurately portrayed how most teenagers feel about fitting in through the different places that Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin went through.
Take the perfect suburban setting that the trio encountered on their journey through the dark planet of Camazotz for example. It’s one of the three most resonant scenes of the movie’s theme of acceptance. However, there’s not a scene that’s more bothersome. For each perfect house, there was one kid with one ball. They mutely bounced their balls repeatedly all at the same time. Then they were called in by their perfect, smiling mothers to have a snack all at the same time as well. It’s the accurate depiction of life fitting in.

Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin went to the beach next. They were convinced by a strange man under the pretense of helping Meg and Charles Wallace to find their father to eat some food and join the fun. However, what tasted heavenly to Calvin tasted like sand to Charles Wallace. It’s DuVernay’s visual interpretation of what conforming to fit in looks like. When you conform to fit in, you only get face value, but most of the time never the real thing.
The last of this triad started when Charles Wallace took the strange man’s hand. He was different; he knew that. But, the odd man fed him all the right things he wanted to hear about his difference and this was his downfall. It’s the trick where people manipulate others into thinking that they were accepted. Instead, they’re only serving as puppets. The film was almost going smoothly, but this sequence is probably one of grittiest.
Deric McCabe was fantastic as the charming and witty Charles Wallace. But, transforming him into a villainous child in a literal snap maybe isn’t the best career turn point for McCabe. The evil Charles Wallace was just all sorts of wrong for him. Every time he spoke, it was like a cotton bud was pricking my eardrum. With the close-up shot of his evil face, it became more apparent that this role and Deric should be as far apart from each other for now.

However, when Charles Wallace was pitifully crying for his sister, Deric’s acting was almost on par with that of Chris Pine’s. The emotion he let out covered him with a blanket of maturity in an instant. But, what’s strange is how the film didn’t let this carry through into Charles Wallace and Meg in the end. The siblings were like wound up toys that stopped their dancing. Now, they were the same as they had begun. For character development, I expected two steps forward, but they only took one. It may be a part of the story, but you can’t help but ask why it felt a tad cold and detached for a happy ending.

‘A Wrinkle In Time’ Overall Verdict

The movie’s association with Disney attaches all kind of expectations. In some ways, “A Wrinkle In Time” conforms to them. At other times, it ultimately veers off track. After all, it’s a movie about acceptance. This theme was very well portrayed especially with the stunning visual effects. However, it’s not a movie I’d be excited to repeat.
“A Wrinkle In Time” is whimsical and enchanting, but it doesn’t reach out to the audience for a connection, nor does it spark inspiration or imagination. It’s a flat picture. Sadly, it’s not on the top list to be Disney’s next legend.