Dir. Andrei Konchalovsky, 110 mins, 2010,UK
Cast. Elle Fanning,Nathan Lane, Richard E. Grant, John Turturro, Charlie Rowe
Review by Michelle Moore
The Christmas season is quickly approaching and the release of DVD’s and Blu-Ray’s for this festive season are abundant. In this instance, the magical and renowned story of The Nutcracker is bought to life through the use of 3D technology.
This 3D take on the tale of the Nutcracker, follows nine-year-old Mary (Fanning) who’s tedious Christmas with her parents and brother is suddenly overflowing with excitement when her beloved Uncle Albert (Lane) visits and gives her the gift of a Nutcracker.
However, this is no ordinary Nutcracker; it is an enchanted Nutcracker (Rowe) that takes Mary on the adventure of a lifetime to his miraculous world of all things magical including fairies, magic mirrors, the ability to fly and other Christmas toys which come to life. Although at the start everything appears as if a dream come true, magical and wonderful, Mary soon discovers the downfalls of living in this magical kingdom, the rule of the evil Rat King (Turturro). Together with the magical toys of the land, Mary must defeat the Rat King and restore peace and good will back to the kingdom and once again unite its inhabitants in fighting for their beliefs and dreams of a content life.
The story itself is simple and easy to follow which is a real bonus for younger children . There are some magical sights coming into view in this story; from Mary flying in a whirlwind of snowflakes to the wooden Nutcracker tuning human (much like Pinocchio) and magical mirrors in which one can step inside. To accompany these magical sights are odd and rather strange visions, such as a talking pipe-smoking monkey and some other strange creatures that are humanoid with rat features – like the individuals in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Although appealing to the younger audience, neither of these however is particularly creative, innovative or mesmerising to the eye.
There is a musical touch to the film with the addition of various songs throughout the movie indicating moods, upsets and plans. They are nowhere near the high quality you would expect from an actual musical film, but when the character singing such songs is anything from a crowd of rat people, tree topping fairies to a band consisting of a drummer, a clown and a monkey man, it is more about the intent of the song and not the quality of how it comes across.
When it comes to Christmas movies, although The Nutcracker in 3D is a wonderfully magical adventure that will be enjoyed by and bring about that Christmas spirit in young children (as well as have them asking for a magical Nutcracker for Christmas that will come to life and take them to the place where dreams and wishes come true), there is nothing to particularly grasp and maintain the attention of the adults watching. Unlike some Christmas movies of past years, this one is not as memorable, but will likely still be enjoyed by children.
The Nutcrackers in 3D comes to Blu-Ray and DVD November 7th
xx - posted on 23/05/2012 13:13:28
