their friend join in a search to return the siblings’ father from the
center of evil in the universe. Science, magic, and their own courage
will provide the tools they need.
Directed by Ava DuVernay
Starring: Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Zach Galifianakis, Chris
Pine
Why I Liked It – A solid cast struggles with a crap
adaptation of a beloved book.
This movie pissed me off.
Pardon for the intemperate language, but this movie screwed up one of
my favorite books. They did it in the precise way that I expected
them to mess it up, then surprised me by finding such a fundamental
mistake to make that I couldn’t believe it. The longer I watched
this, the angrier I became.
Let’s start with the
screw-up I expected.
They screwed up the Witches. Big
time. Ridiculous costumes, silly personality changes, cutesy-pie pop
culture references. They sacrifice the depth of wisdom in the
original characters. Given the importance of that wisdom, it was an
awful creative decision. Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which and Mrs. Whatsit
deserved so much better than they get here. The cast was more than
capable of delivering the deeper versions. They were given crap
to work with sadly.
But I had steeled myself for that,
based on what I had seen in the trailers and previews. It was the
next two mistakes that set me off as I watched.
The
second mistake happens too often today. They did what modern movie
makers do when faced with a story that has elements of fantasy or
things beyond the everyday. They toss the story aside and try to fill
in the gaps with special effects. It is always a mistake. This leaves
enormous holes in the story, and there are important foundational
points in the relationships that are never established. It leaves the
movie hollow.
The third and final mistake is the most
egregious and therefore the most unforgivable. The center of the
story is the relationship between the three children, Meg, Charles
Wallace and Calvin. But the story lacks the points that develop that
relationship. It leaves us with cliches and cardboard characters.
Consequently, the center of the movie is flat. You don’t feel
any connection to the characters, so what happens to them doesn’t
matter much. It is that relationship that stands against the evil
that has captured Meg and Charles Wallace’s father. Calvin gets
short shrift, which is unfortunate. He is a wonderful character in
the book who is one of the rocks upon which Meg stands to make her
battle with the darkness.
Heck, I didn’t even like the
soundtrack. The music is poorly used and detracts from several
scenes.
Note what I’m NOT mentioning. There was a lot of
upset when the Murray family was cast as multi-racial, as were the
witches. Storm Reid is wonderful as Meg. I just wish they had given
her a better version of the story to show it. If the fact that
some of the originally white characters now are people of color
bothers you that much, you may need to do a little self-examination.
The cast does nothing to detract from the story.
What
you’re left with is a Disney movie at its worst. It’s a facade
with nothing behind it, flashy and superficial.
And when
you do that to a beloved book, you get what you deserve. The movie
was a critical and box office flop.
Rating
– ** Not Impressed
Stories Are My Life 
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