"A Wrinkle in Time" is, well...a Wrinkled Mess, but "Red Sparrow" was Pretty Good!

 
    In the wake of Black Panther's massive success, films are striving to find any semblance of longevity at the box office, and this week's newest release hopes to possibly gain favor over the King of Wakanda. Highly unlikely, but a worthy endeavor nonetheless. A Wrinkle in Time is a family-friendly fantasy-adventure adapted from the well-known book most people read in junior high. I went into this movie expecting a visually-stunning and heart-felt story, and what I got was most of one of these and less of the other. The book is a weird narrative to begin with, so adapting it would leave plenty of room for inspiration and liberties to be taken. This movie is stunning to look at...and that's about it. What seemed to be a film with promise, ends up being nothing more than a beautiful, hot mess.

   After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg (Storm Reid), her brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), and her friend Calvin (Levi Miller) to space in order to find him. These three mystical beings are like galactic fairy godmothers who exist within the light and positivity of the universe. Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) "attempt" to help Meg and Co. in overcoming the growing darkness in the universe in order to find her father, who figured out how to travel through space and has been missing for four years. I say "attempt" because narratively, these three mystical beings ultimately have no sway over the course of the story. There is literally nothing they do that actually, really helps the children in their quest. They serve mainly as transportation and exposition machines, providing just the right bit of information at the exact time it is needed in order for the story to chug along. Every weird or questionable thing that pops up is explained away with no regard whatsoever. I was honestly surprised at how useless these characters were.

 
    Where I think this movie falters, primarily, is in the structure of the story. It is very disjointed, with no rhyme or reason for events to occur. Things just happen, and the movie never really shies away from being a series of "things" happening. These beings appear and before you know it you're on another planet, and the flowers can talk and the children completely accept the insanity that is befalling them, oh and then one of the beings turns into a flying salad and there's a scary mass in the sky, and then there is a giant tornado that appears menacing but literally does nothing important to the story and then outrageous events occur that just happen to be coincidental for the heroes who apparently don't have to do anything other than allow the insanity to just play out, and somewhere within all of this madness, there is a story about facing your demons and accepting the darkness within you as a part of who you are, or something. The disruptive nature and grammatical incorrectness of my previous sentence is a true representation of the experience offered by this movie. I don't mean to rip it apart or anything, but it's just so frustrating to see potential fizzle away. Now, don't get me wrong here, there is stuff in this movie to love. Storm Reid is a wonderful young actress who carries a narrative that makes no sense, but is still able to reign in the chaos at times and deliver an emotional performance that works. Young Deric McCabe stole the show for me. He's really sweet and sometimes over-the-top with his performance, but it was adorable and I enjoyed it. Kaling, Witherspoon, and Winfrey were okay. There is a brief appearance from Zack Galifianakis, which was amazing and easily the best part of the whole movie. I can never get enough of that guy. Overall though, despite Reid and McCabe, the acting was serviceable and somewhat unforgettable. Structurally this movie is a mess.

   I will say though that visually, this movie is gorgeous. At times you can really feel transported to a new world, and there was a brief, montage-like moment where glimpses of other worlds were shown that seemed extremely intriguing. Unfortunately we don't get to spend any time in those worlds. Director Ava DuVernay clearly had a vision for this film, and visually I think she surpasses expectations. Even the costuming was vibrant and wacky, but equally enjoyable. As I said before, there is a message within the mess of this film that really has the potential to be powerful and meaningful, especially for the younger generation. It's just unfortunate that it's somewhat muddled within a swampy bog of rainbow-poop-glitter-water. I'm sure plenty of people will like this movie, but for me it was a hot mess through and through.

   

    What wasn't a hot mess, was the wannabe Black Widow flick Red Sparrow. Jennifer Lawrence shines once again in a role that is disturbing and awesome all at the same time. She plays a young woman named Dominika Egorova, a ballerina who is recruited to a Russian intelligence service where she is forced to use her body as a weapon. Her first mission, targeting a C.I.A. agent (Joel Edgerton), threatens to unravel the security of both nations. The movie is an intense thriller that plays like a mystery/drama. The action is palpable, the story is engaging, and the film makes sense from beginning to end...so there's that. The journey that Dominka traverses is harrowing. The 'Sparrow School' she attends is emotionally draining to watch at times, and the toll it takes on the central characters is extremely visceral. The twists and turns in the narrative will keep you on your toes, and by the end you will have realized that you, too, have just completed an intense journey with these characters. If you're a fan of intriguing spy films, then this is one to check out.

There's plenty to see in theaters that isn't Black Panther, so I urge you to at least check 'em out. Then again, Black Panther was amazing so...