Review: ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ fails to meet high expectations

Photo courtesy of IMDB

Story by Nick Lester / Contributing Writer

“A Wrinkle in Time” was released in theaters on March 9. If you went to into the premiere completely blind and hadn’t seen any  trailers for the movie, you might have had a hard time believing that the same studio responsible for the live-action “Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

Though “A Wrinkle in Time” is ambitious and visually stunning, overall it was a disappointing and convoluted mess of a film. However, it isn’t without a handful of redeeming moments, which include an emotional scene that nearly had me in tears. 

The film’s costume design and makeup were quite impressive and made it pretty clear that a lot of time, work and money went into making Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon look amazing.  The visual effects are another thing that I have to praise. They’re some of the best that I have seen in a film in a while, and they might be the only reason I would recommend seeing this movie, especially in 3D. 

The acting in this film was definitely on two totally opposite ends of the spectrum: Chris Pine, while still enveloped in a subpar plot, gave a fantastic performance. However, the same thing can’t be said of Levi Miller, who plays Calvin.  His horrible performance stuck out like a sore thumb. It was so bad that it made me believe that the movie would’ve improved significantly if his character had been removed from the story entirely.

Unfortunately, the cons outweigh the pros in this film. The plot was confusing, which made it difficult to understand what was going on or why certain things were happening. The rules of the universe where the movie takes place were also unclear, which made it hard to figure out what could or could not be done. It seemed like the movie made up the rules as it went in order to fit whatever the plot required. This often led to a number of clichés that made a good portion of the movie somewhat predictable.  

As I left the theater, I met an old friend of mine. I asked her what she thought of the movie, and she told me that she thought the book was better. The book was written by Madeleine L’Engle and published in 1962.  As someone who hasn’t had the opportunity of reading the book yet, I can’t agree or disagree with that opinion. However, considering how disappointing “A Wrinkle in Time” turned out to be for me, it certainly wasn’t surprising to hear.  

If you still can’t decide whether or not you want to see it in theaters, it honestly just depends on your preferences. If you’re the type of person who watches movies and nitpicks every detail or if you just want to see a good adaptation of a classic book on the big screen, then this movie is probably not for you.  However, if you’re the type of person who isn’t very particular or demanding when you go to see a movie or want to see some stunning visuals, then chances are that you’ll enjoy this one.

To contact Lifestyles Editor Tayhlor Stephenson, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.

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