The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is yet another example of Hollywood’s sad obsession with throwing massive amounts of eye candy at the screen while not bothering too much with the story. To be fair, though, the eye candy is magnificent, and the story, bland and simple as it may be, is not awful.
The film opens with a CGI heavy but still beautiful bird’s eye flight over Victorian London ending at the home of Clara Stahlbaum (Mackenzie Foy) as she and her brother, Fritz (Tom Sweet), attempt to catch a mouse with a Rube Goldberg machine constructed in the attic. Clara’s mother (Anna Madeley) has recently died, and Clara, her father (Matthew Macfadyen), her brother, and her sister (Ellie Bamber) are trying to cope with the loss as they get ready to attend a Christmas party. A Christmas gift from her late mother and a gift-giving game at the party hosted by Clara’s godfather, Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman), set the stage for the rest of the film.
Keira Knightley and Mackenzie Foy in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. IMDb.com.
There are some feeble attempts at twists, but they aren’t all that much of a surprise. Overall, the plot proceeds in fairly linear fashion. On the positive, the story is at least coherent and internally consistent. There is one glaring plot hole at the end, but it doesn’t really matter by then. Bonus points for providing an in-story justification for having an endless supply of barely competent mooks.
The visuals are dazzling and clearly where all the effort went. Both Victorian London and the magical realms are created with exquisite detail. The CGI is ever present but beautifully executed. Emphasis on gear-intensive and overly complicated devices give it a bit of a steampunky vibe, but it comes off as charming rather than silly.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. IMDb.com
The film is full of bizarre “what am I watching” moments. Mother Ginger’s (Helen Mirren) henchmen are a nightmarish set of Russian nesting dolls who get progressively creepier as the movie unfolds. A horde of mice coalesce to form a giant rodent-shaped mass. They stay in constant motion, so the entire “skin” of the megamouse pulsates as the mice run around and over each other. Later, Mother Ginger lays about with a whip. In another odd scene, Sugar Plum, Regent of the Land of Sweets (Keira Knightley), reaches behind her head, pulls out some stuff the same color as her hair, and eats it. I couldn’t tell if she kept a supply of purple snacks at the nape of her neck or ripped out and ate a hank of her own hair. To some, it might come off as trying too hard to be Tim Burton, but I thought the weirdness worked.
That’s just messed up. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. IMDb.com.
The soundtrack is fantastic! Familiar music from the Nutcracker ballet is expertly woven into the film, sometimes played straight and sometimes recognizable but heavily adapted to fit the scene. Some of the happiest music is modified to become downright sinister during key moments.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was neither particularly good nor particularly bad. One might equate it to going to see the ballet in that you’re going for the music and the visual spectacle and not so much for the story. I personally got a kick out of all the freakish elements, so I quite enjoyed it despite its general mediocrity.
Overall rating: 5/10
Personal enjoyment rating: 7.5/10