The Nutcracker and the Four Realms movie review

+JMJ+

Hello everyone, it has been awhile since I posted on here. My schedule is still busy and I usually forget one weekends. Oh well. But anyway I recently went to see the movie "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" so I thought I would do a review before all memory of it faded. :D

Rated PG but could easily be PG- 13

Synopsis: Young Clara needs a magical, one-of-a-kind key to unlock a box that contains a priceless gift. A golden thread leads her to the coveted key, but it soon disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. In that world, she meets a soldier named Phillip, a group of mice and the regents who preside over three realms. Clara and Phillip must now enter a fourth realm to retrieve the key and restore harmony to the unstable land.

That was the online synopsis, now I'll give you mine.

WARNING!

SPOILERS!!

The unhappy Clara is given a special gift from her now dead mother for Christmas. But the gift requires a special key and cannot be opened. Clara suspects that her Godfather may know how to open the gift. While following the gold thread to her Godfather's Christmas present Clara suddenly finds herself in a snowy wood and the key at the end of the thread. But a mouse snatches the key and takes off. Enraged, Clara sets off in pursuit and comes to a bridge that is guarded by a soldier named Phillip. Phillip won't let Clara cross the bridge that leads into the Fourth Realm until he discovers that she is really the daughter of the Queen of this strange place. Clara is quite surprised to find that her dead mother was the Queen. While pursuing the mouse, Clara is captured by a pile of rodents in the shape of a gigantic mouse and taken to Mother Ginger. But the valiant Phillip races to her rescue and helps her escape, unfortunately without the key. Clara is then escorted to the palace where the Lords of the Ice Realm and Flower Realm and the Sugar Plum Fairy of the land of sweets great her. But their joy at meeting her is dimmed at the news of the death of Clara's mother. The Sugar Plum Fairy is especially upset. There does not seem to be anyway to defend the realms against the fourth realm and Mother Ginger because the machine that makes the toys come to life can only be started by a special key. The very same key that Clara needs to open her gift and the mice have. Clara organizes a posse and she and Phillip lead it into the Fourth Realm to rescue the key. Clara meets Mother Ginger and rescues the key. Then Phillip helps her escape again. Back at the palace the Sugar Plum Fairy gleefully takes the key and starts making an army of hollow tin soldiers into life size hollow tin soldiers who will obey her.

SPOILERS!!!!

Read at your own caution. 

The Sugar Plum Fairy's first orders are to imprison Clara, Philip and the lords of the other realms. Then she builds an army and prepares to march on the fourth realm, once called the Land of Amusements. Clara is very much upset realizing that Mother Ginger had tried to warn her, but she (Clara) like everyone else had believed Sugar Plum's lies about Mother Ginger and the Fourth Realm. While contemplating her mother's gift, Clara suddenly realizes what it means, regains her confidence and makes a brilliant escape with Phillip. She then sends him to warn Mother Ginger about the army and sneaks into the palace to sabotage the machine. Things are sort of working out well. Meanwhile Phillip and Mother Ginger come up with a plan to draw Sugar Plum to them, which works wonderfully, but leaves Phillip being attacked by hundreds of Tin Soldiers. The Mice Pile come to his rescue and they fight side by side. Unfortunately it's still a losing battle. I will refrain from adding the last bit although their isn't much left to tell except how they defeat the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The Cast

Clara Stahlbaum

Played by Mackenzie Foy

This is the first time I saw her in a movie.

I actually liked her, even though I didn't like how bitter she was to her father. But the end of the movie solved that nicely. While some of her gowns were lower on the neckline then I would be comfortable with, the white dress above was her most immodest dress. I'll say that I've seen much worse.

Mr. Stahlbaum

played by Matthew Macfadyen

I saw him in "Pride and Prejudice 2005" "Robin Hood 2010"

Hmmm... both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from 2005 P&P were in this movie.

Mr. Stahlbaum was not an important character in the movie. There is some conflict between him and Clara in the beginning which she feels guilty over about half way through and is sorry for in the end.

Drosselmeyer

played by Morgan Freeman

I saw him in "Ben-Hur 2016," "The Lego Movie," and possibly in "Julias Ceaser" (I can't figure out if it is the right one or not.)

I loved his house. As a writer, I could appreciate the whole setup. Probably not a lot of people would agree with me, but it was very neat and cool to me. :D He was also not a very important character.

Philip

played by Jayden Fowora-Knight

First time I've seen him in a movie

Okay this is the really weird part about the movie. They called him a Nutcracker, but he certainly did not look like one nor was ever one as far as I was concerned. How they all decided that he was one was beyond me. Maybe it was the red tail down his helmet. Anyway, I got to say he was one of my favorite characters.

While there was no romance between him and Clara it was hinted at. Disney doesn't seem to believe in old fashioned romance any more. Anyway the two of them were really cute. He also got to save Clara more then once, not something that you see in a lot of newer movies anymore. So yeah, I liked him.

Mother Ginger

played by Helen Mirren

I've seen her in National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets," and "As You Like It,"

Mother Ginger was another one I liked. I thought she was one of the more interesting characters. Once turned out to be one of the good people I started liking her.

Sugar Plum Fairy

played by Keira Knightley

I've seen her in "POTC5: Dead Men Tell No Tales," POTC: At the World's End," "Pride and Prejudice 2005," "POTC2: Dead Man's Chest," "POTC1: Curse of the Black Pearl,"

Sugar Plum was the real villain of the movie, which was completely okay with me. I don't like Keira Knightley. Also, Sugar Plum was very silly, selfish, had the most immodest costume, and just generally had a very unlikable attitude.

I guess that was all for important cast.

Take a look at some of the weird costumes. :D

Anyway, I guess my opinion on the movie was that I would rate it about 3 and 1/2 out of five. I liked it, but it wouldn't be one that I would put on my favorite list. I don't regret going to see it either and would watch it again.

For disturbing content I would say that the Mouse King/pile was a little creepy when it first showed up, but that was just the mood setting and the darkness in that particular scene. There was two guys that grossed me out, but weren't important at all and weren't funny either. They did nothing except make you think that Disney was probably insinuating content.

So unless I missed something, I thought the movie was pretty clean.

God Bless You All,