140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Critics, before prattling on about how simplistic & messy this film is, look at the excited & inspired kid a few rows over. Then shut up…
Spoiler-free Movie Review of A Wrinkle in Time (2018):
Thursday night (not coincidentally on International Women’s Day) my wife, daughter, and I went to see A Wrinkle in Time. We’ve all been eagerly waiting some time for this adaptation, ever since it was first announced. The trailers and released images looked great, the actors seemed well-chosen, and we were all extremely excited about the amount of representation this project signified. This is the first picture with a nine-digit budget directed by a woman of color. Even if it absolutely stunk, we were going to go see it.
As is my custom, I had avoided the early press, but I did glance quickly at the first few lines of several reviews, just to get some sense of what we were in for. I don’t usually do this, but my girls were really looking forward to the film, and if it was getting absolutely hammered, I’d at least warn them to temper their expectations.
Despite what the early reviews have suggested, it didn’t stink. For my well-read wife it was a solid picture, not equal to the beloved source material, of course, but a good time. For me, who hadn’t read the book since childhood, it was a really fun picture that left me happy and smiling despite its faults. For my daughter – it was AWESOME!
Look, everyone doesn’t have to get the same things out of every film. It’s hard, but you really have to take the goals of the filmmaker, the demographics of the prospective audience, and the film environment into consideration with your criticism.
I get what the critics are harping on:
- it’s more visually appealing than truly substantive;
- probably overly simplifies the source material in an effort to appeal to all;
- there’s too much music and a muddy sound mix;
- many of the performances are over the top;
- the outlandish costumes and design is polarizing.
But so what? The fact that this film will miss a lot of people does not mean that it will fail to resonate with a whole lot of other people.
For example, as an adult, there was a complete lack of suspense – I never had any doubt where the story was going or if any of the main characters were in any danger. But it would be myopic and limiting for me to assume that everyone would react the same way. In fact, I found a lot of the scenes quite dark and intense for younger viewers. Don’t tell me that those filmgoers would consider the picture uneventful and slow.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have a habit of sticking up for films that are getting panned, but the last to admit it as a character flaw. It’s important to stick up for pictures that might miss their chance to be seen in the face of overwhelming criticism.
And I must clarify here that I’m not just sticking up for the underdog here – I truly enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time.
- I smiled from ear to ear through the whole film. It was genuinely fun.
- I loved the child actors, led by a very promising Storm Reid as Meg Murry, a heroine I wish my daughter had been exposed to at an even earlier age.
- I enjoyed all the adult performances, even if I could have done with much more screen-time for the charming Gugu Mbatha-Raw (and a lot less Reese Witherspoon).
- Despite the rather short run-time, there were several scenes where emotional moments were really allowed to breathe. Too often in tentpole films, when the heroes have actually come face to face with their objective – the raison d’être – it’s just another scene. They don’t take time to actually reflect on what has been accomplished. The actors and characters in A Wrinkle in Time are given the space to actually slow down the pace and experience these moments. It’s lovely, and a credit to director Ava DuVernay.
- The project was greenlit by Disney in the wake of Tim Burton’s dreadful but ginormously profitable Alice in Wonderland, and while it shares a few of that movie’s criticisms (over-reliance on CGI and lack of subtlety), it is worlds more grounded.
Because at its heart, A Wrinkle in Time has one – a heart, that is. The film contains a ton of empowering, hopeful, positive messages aimed at an audience that desperately needs power, hope, and positivity. I was proud to sit alongside my wife and daughter and watch a beautiful film filled with representation, diversity, body positivity, hope, respect, and appreciation for intelligence and uniqueness.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score: A (14! pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
