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Designed just over two centuries ago, E.T.A. Hoffmann's novel "The Nutcracker and the King of the Mouse" from 1816 has been told over and over over the years – in the form of Tchaikovsky's ballet, Dumas's novel, Barbie's Christmas caricature – and It is reasonable to conclude that there is not a good way to reinterpret the beloved classic. That said, there are certainly some wrong answers, and Disney's ephemeral adaptation, "Nutcracker and the Four Kingdoms", obviously seems hollow and superficial: it dangerously threatens to destroy it, wasting a talented cast and some the most spectacular design work of this film. next to "My Fair Lady" on a version with precious little dance and even less chemistry.
Conceptually, who better than Disney to make a final version on the big screen of "The Nutcracker"? And yet, the title of the film and the special circumstances that prompted co-directors Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston to share the director's credit betray the soulless and over-calculated approach of this heavy committee tent, which resembles a construction plan of the world for some. future attraction of the Disneyland amusement park (featuring another princess to scroll), suggesting but never showing multiple derived kingdoms while rushing into a bellicose plot that is centered on a giant battle between rebellious mice and an army of lead soldiers.
To be fair, this war for control of the kingdom has its roots in Hoffmann's original story. Do not be too surprised if the approach of the writer's revisionist writer Ashleigh Powell – which unfolds more like a pitch meeting than as an appropriate script – retransmits the cousins of Mickey Mouse as the good guys from the epic battle for control of the land where Christmas toys come to life. In this version, both parties changed sides because of a twist that makes the villain one of the sweetest characters in ballet.
Powell also retrogrades the nutcracker itself (Jayden Fowora-Knight), from prince charming to best chaste friend, and then to young friend Clara (Mackenzie Foy of "The Twilight Saga"), whom we meet in Victorian London, where the film opens: Whereas his brothers and sisters love to Dance – in a joke, even the little brother Fritz can not wait for his turn – Clara prefers more serious activities, such as the study of physics and DIY mechanical. In this sense, she is very much like her late mother, Marie (Anna Madeley), who left her an enigma in the form of a locked silver egg and the message: "Everything you need is at your disposal. within. "
At the elaborate Christmas ball, Clara leaves Papa (sadly looking Matthew Macfadyen) to visit his godfather (Morgan Freeman) in his elaborate workshop, filled with inventions, but none of his tools work with the egg . Thus, while the holiday festivities generate the familiar whirlwinds of Tchaikovsky's unparalleled score, Clara has her own agenda to pursue, looking for the missing key in a quest that will lead her to a very elaborate parallel dimension, where all Key characters from the classic tale "The Nutcracker" waits.
You may have noticed that I have used the word "elaborate" three times in the previous paragraph, and although I do not repeat it, feel free to insert the concept before each name to come because it is clearly the effect sought by Disney. , quite impressive, both by the scale and complexity of this fantastic world. The rest looks like a cross between "Alice in Wonderland" – though Clara looks a lot less bewildered than "Alice and is brave -" and "The Chronicles of Narnia", especially when she passes from one to the other. a beautifully painted corridor at the snowy bottom. on the other end.
It's here that she meets both the nutcracker and the mischievous rodent known as Mouserinks – whose repeated name sounded like "Mouse Rex" for those ears, a nickname better suited to the monstrous form that takes this new mouse king when he is swept swarm of his wild companions (obtained by combining an advanced particle animation with fluid and fluid 'jookin' choreography of hip-hop dancer Lil Buck). This composite creature can be horrifying for little kids and for a crowd that does not like mice, and yet it's the most amazing creative and technical innovation in a movie rich in ideas but far too fundamental in their execution. .
The mice live in the fourth kingdom, a threatening forest in the center of which is a circus tent imagined by Tim Burton, presided over by the somewhat macabre mother of Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), with her long doll lashes and her cracked porcelain. face. Clara flee as quickly as possible in a sumptuous fortified fortress where she meets three regents whose mother is sorely lacking: Hawthorne (Eugenio Derbez), encrusted with glitter, represents the land of flowers, Shiver (Richard E Grant). ) is native to the land of snowflakes and the sweet plum fairy (Keira Knightley) presides over the land of sweets – a cotton candy tinged with lavender and girl-like cotton, Kristin Chenoweth.
Although individually cute, when this magical trio appears together at once, they look as incongruous as Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze in the much-maligned Batman & Robin, a movie whose garish sense of excess serves as a base for the over-the-top aesthetic "The Nutcracker". So much care has been taken in each of the departments, from the excellent design of Guy Hendrix Dyas' production to Jenny Beavan's micro-detailed costumes, to the lovingly updated Tchaikovsky's score by the composer. James Newton Howard, and even if one of these elements could in itself, it's too much to take at once – the kind of overwork Liberace was known for.
If only all this creativity had been able to serve a simpler, more elegant narrative, as opposed to a meaningless war film in which neither side represents an identifiable cause. Perhaps a generation of young girls will be inspired to see Clara discover the strength she needs (Foy plays quite convincingly with her newfound confidence) before going into battle as a Jeanne d'Or. Arc without cause. But this is done at the expense of the inspiration that the character has provided to generations of dancers. Here, the ballet – which serves as an interlude "Fantasia" at the halfway point of the film (interpreted by the great Misty Copeland), and later dotted with the ending credits – was slightly marginalized. It's as if Disney feared that traditional dance numbers would not seem fresh enough to the public, instead focusing on a generic scenario of old clichés.
We could applaud the themes of color-blind casting and women's empowerment – or breathe a sigh of relief after omitting stereotyped Arab and Chinese ballet sequences – but Disney's commitment to progressive portrayal is not further than the thin coating of candy from a festive candy. The studio may have wanted to continue on the post-Frozen theme, that her heroines do not need love interests, even though it's a mistake to neutralize the central romance of The Nutcracker. This would deprive Disney of a positive interracial couple (already seen in "Pocahontas" and "The Princess and the Frog") and would undermine the progression achieved by playing a black actor in the lead role.
It would be a bit easy to attribute the project's weaknesses to the stick dead ends between Hallström (the largest larch merchant in Hollywood) and Johnston (stage show specialist), who oversaw the film's many appearances. But the blame belongs to the conceptual level. The mouse king has become greedy, seeing the opportunity to own a classic vacation. In two centuries, "Nutcracker" has suffered more indignities (we look at you, Barbie) and has been endured. At a time of almost daily disappointment, it can at least claim to be among the most beautiful disappointments of the year.
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