Disney’s Beauty and the Beast showed that people will be happy to go to the cinema for big CGI versions of classic fairy tales, and in the next few years, Dumbo, Aladdin, Lady and the Tramp and a bunch of other similar films will arrive. Now there is the Nutcracker, which is not based on the animated classic, but almost everyone has heard of it anyway. And in addition, it was already evident from the first photos and trailers that it was supposed to be another “big, colorful, expensive, star-studded and, if possible, very successful” fairy tale. We’ll find out in the coming weeks if that works out. But as far as quality is concerned, we are already clear about that. We are talking about The Nutcracker And The Four Realms.
In the cinema, you can look forward to a more or less classic story, which is not really a problem with fairy tales. Adolescent Klára is a bit shy and a very smart girl who still hasn’t come to terms with her mother’s death. But he finds an unexpected gift under the tree, thanks to which he enters an even stranger realm full of thieving mice, proud soldiers and three rather jerky regents. They rule the three realms and tell her that her mother was the queen of this country and that there is also a fourth realm and a fourth regent and she wants to destroy everything. Klara must take on her new regent duties, confront the terrifying Gingerbread Woman, and find a stolen key that could help her uncover one big family secret
Well, that’s the end of it. Then there are about two or three twists and turns, which are not exactly surprising and can be expected a few minutes in advance, then a battle, a lesson and a reconciliation with her father, with whom Klára had a fight at the beginning. And then home. I personally don’t see this as a big problem, even Beauty and the Beast was similarly uncomplicated, as well as Alice in Wonderland or similar films, and in this genre it’s part of the game. It’s just right for children, and adults have to accept that the target audience here is about nine years old, which logically requires certain concessions. In terms of story, The Nutcracker And The Four Realms doesn’t exactly surprise, excite or interest, and it does everything to a large extent well and as expected of it. The problem is that it is not particularly interesting in anything else.
If you’re looking forward to grandeur, it’s here, unfortunately rather out of place. The world itself doesn’t feel particularly epic. We get one forest, castle and bridge. And that’s all. The creators are trying to catch up with sets, masks and costumes, but unfortunately they are betting on quantity rather than quality. The costumes are opulent, the evil gingerbread woman’s strange carriage is several meters tall, and the castle looks like St. Basil’s Cathedral on steroids. There is something pink, flowery or strangely scribbled everywhere, and the more the Nutcracker tried to stuff it in front of my face, the more I found it cheesy and sometimes even decently repulsive. Of course, I understand that this is a matter of personal taste, but I still feel that Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston didn’t quite manage this and there is just too much and in places where it wasn’t really needed.
In the end, there are also not very interesting actors in a not very interesting story with not very interesting visuals. Mackenzie Foy is likable, even though unfortunately she plays just another brave girl who burns it and manages everything in the end. But nothing much better could have happened. The rest of the actors are just more or less scowling, or they’re hidden under a bunch of make-up and stuff like that. In short, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren or Keira Knightley don’t get much room to play here. On the other hand, unlike many other actors, they are at least recognizable.
Play the trailer The Nutcracker And The Four Realms is a somewhat run-of-the-mill fairy-tale bet for sure, which tries to be a visually attractive spectacle for the whole family, but it quickly turns out that it only offers a cheesy story and an often almost unattractive set-up. Compared to similarly tuned spectacular films, it loses quite a bit, on the other hand, When the Dragon Has a Headache is also currently in theaters, so if you have to spend a lot of time on a fairy tale, maybe you will end up appreciating this mediocre thing in all respects.
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