A Wrinkle in Time unfolds itself alongside a young, intelligent Meg Murry and her little brother Charles Wallace four years after the mysterious disappearance of their father. Meg, Charles, and her classmate Calvin are then transported through space by three peculiar and powerful beings in order to embark on a daring quest to find Mr. Murry.
This incarnation of A Wrinkle in Time stands as the second attempt to translate Madeleine L'Engle's novel that's been long described as "unfilmable." I, myself, am quite familiar with the book as I had to read it eight years ago in my seventh grade English class, and I'll be upfront to admit that I absolutely hated it. However, I wasn't going to simply let my distaste for the source material or my preconceived notions automatically color my review as negative because I believe every film should be seen before I form and share an opinion . With that being said, my expectations weren't very high for A Wrinkle in Time and I still wound up disappointed when it was all over.
The 2018 adaptation is directed by the acclaimed African American female filmmaker Ava DuVernay and features a script written by Jeff Stockwell and Jennifer Lee, which was based on Madeleine L'Engle's publication. DuVernay previously had helmed smaller-scale films such as Selma and 13th to great success, but this was her first big-budget venture and I can't imagine how embarrassing this must be for her. I've often heard film fans throw her name into the ring to helm a Star Wars flick, but I couldn't be happier to hear she's not interested in the gig after seeing how she handled this big-budget bonanza. She's clearly talented but I don't think blockbusters fit her style of filmmaking.
I'd say A Wrinkle in Time's biggest issue is that it was well-intentioned but not well executed. DuVernay definitely embraced the awkwardness of the source material in an effort to remain faithful as possible I guess? As a result, the plot's immensely incoherent, the dialogue's dreadful, the acting is atrocious, the characters are uninteresting, and the film wasn’t entertaining in the least. That's not even mentioning the inharmonious edits, jarring camera movement, or terrible song choices including various generic pop-style songs I'd never heard before but am sure were created purely for the film's soundtrack. On that note, Ramin Djawadi is a composer who I greatly admire due to his work on Game of Thrones... but his score rarely fit the mood of the scene it accompanied... The sole strengths of A Wrinkle in Time are really just its visuals and Chris Pine's performance, but neither of those elements can carry the movie... Even the bright, colorful imagery doesn't look natural due to lackluster vfx work from time-to-time, as can be evidenced above.
So you may be wondering, "How is that DuVernay's fault?" Well, a director oversees the entire project and should reign things in if they aren't working. They provide guidance for the cast and crew, and it's their responsibility to ensure their vision makes it to the big screen the way they intended. Otherwise, they didn't exactly fulfill their obligation. Perhaps, these shortcomings can be attributed to the studio, as Disney's had a spree of at least one flop-a-year (whether it be critical, financial, or both in certain cases). However, this film is far too ambitious for it to simply be a studio-made product. There's evident artistic intent put into this so it's not like nobody tried. Genuine effort was put forth.
One of A Wrinkle in Time's most glaring issues though was an immense emotional disconnect. I could have cared less about the characters, and the filmmakers didn't give me any incentive to invest in them whatsoever. Every character functions as either an expositional device or a stilted, stale personality. Seriously, the lines these actors were provided with would suffice as some of the worst dialogue I've heard uttered all year. And if there's one thing we take for granted these days, it's quality performances. ESPECIALLY those from young actors since we've been blessed with watching a talented pool of performers these last few years. Unfortunately, Storm Reid, Levi Miller, and Deric McCabe aren't up to the task of elevating the material provided. In the role of Meg, Reid provides a performance leagues beyond her other young costars as she's at least able to occasionally display emotional depth. Her scenes with Pine are easily her best, and are a testament to her potential if she continues to fine-tune her acting abilities. However, Reid's mostly left waking around almost as expressionless as possible, and the film suffers a great deal from it.
In regards to the experienced adult actors, it's just as bad...The three entities Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Who are portrayed by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling respectively, and they're each awful... They're around to guide Meg and occasionally impart words of wisdom, yet they're rarely around and feel rather pointless as a result (I know it's like that in the novel as well). Oprah must be running low on interview money to stoop to this... Anyways, Oprah stands around to speak inspirational, empowering quotes you'd probably find on a poster without a care in the world, Reese Witherspoon is ditsy as can be as Mrs. Whatsit, and Mindy Kaling's Mrs. Who is stuck only able to utter quotes spoken by others unless the script demands otherwise... I couldn't take any of them seriously at all though because they each look ridiculous in the eccentric, over-the-top costumes.
