Theres a great scene in Ava DuVernaysSelmawhere David Oyelowos Martin Luther King Jr. describes his mission.
He wants the front page, nightly news.
You almost felt you were watching King film his own biopic.
Credit: Atsushi Nishijima/Disney
SoSelmawas an impressive triumph over the cliches of Hollywood hagiography.
WithA Wrinkle in Time, DuVernay has set herself another difficult task.
and the Light (good!).
So this listless films real bummer is how dispiritingly it hits the marks of the modern blockbuster.
InSelma, you watched a man print his own legend.Wrinklefeels too much like a reprint.
We start with Meg Murry (Storm Reid), sad and lonely like the best teens always are.
Her scientist dad (Chris Pine) went missing four years ago.
They meet three spaced-out fairy godmothers.
Which initially appears as a 12-foot-tall titan glimmering with ethereal sun dust.
Shes played by Oprah Winfrey; no special effects required, presumably.
All their costumes are wild, and such gaudy delights are the only delights, really.
You feel some hesitation in the storytelling here.
The three Mrs. Ws overexplain every wonder with PowerPoint precision.
Almost nothing works, but there are bursts of real camp energy.
Theres also a lovely airborne shot early in the movie, with the camera gliding down over Megs neighborhood.
But the brief invigorating gusts of Weird Disney surrealism are asphyxiated by layers of Corporate Disney life-coachery.
The Mrs. Ws are meant to be pushing Meg toward heroism rescuing her father, rescuing herself, rescuingeverything.
But as a side effect, Meg becomes a passenger in her own heros journey.
And cute boy Calvin (bland Levi Miller) does nothing but stare ather.
You have great hair, he says.
No, Idont, she responds, embarrassed about her natural look.
So much to consider here: culture, race, Megs self-image, the brutal society challenging that image.
