Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
January 28, 2019
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
I knew The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was in trouble when Disney didn’t push Christopher Robin over $100 million at the domestic box office. At that point, every film they released in 2018 had hit the century mark, so there was a chance they could have had every film released in a calendar year get to that milestone. They wouldn’t pass up that chance, unless they knew The Nutcracker and the Four Realms wasn’t going to get there. It didn’t get there. It barely managed to get halfway to $100 million. Is the film as bad as its box office numbers? Or was it unfairly ignored?
We are introduced to Clara Stahlbaum as she is playing with her younger brother, Fritz, as they use a Rube Goldberg-like devise to catch a mouse. It’s a strange thing to do, especially on Christmas Eve, but Clara is a strange girl. It’s the first Christmas since the death of their mother, Marie, but before she died, Marie set aside gifts for all three children to be given to them on Christmas eve. Fritz got toy soldiers, Louise, the eldest daughter, got her mother’s favorite dress. Meanwhile, Clara got a shiny metal egg, with a keyhole. The box it came in doesn’t have the key, but it does have a note saying that everything she needs is inside.
While Clara is examining the egg, her father, Benjamin, asks her to get ready for the Christmas party they must attend. She doesn’t to enjoy Christmas this year, not after the death of her mother, but her father insists that it is expected of them, which Clara cares nothing about. While Louise is helping Clara get ready for the party, Clara spots a D engraved in the Egg. D for Drosselmeyer, their godfather, whom will be at the party. Before getting to the party, Benjamin informs his two daughters they have to dance with him, something about maintaining appearances. He specifically tells Clara not to go running off.
When they get to the party, Clara immediately goes running off to meet Drosselmeyer to ask him about the egg. He says he made it for her mom many years ago and that it can only be opened with the key. With that, Clara returns to the main function in time for the children to receive their gifts from Drosselmeyer. The tree at the center of the yard is covered in strings, each with a name of a child on it. When Clara finds her name on it, she follows it, but it continues far from the party, into a dark part of the house, and finally into another world entirely. Clara doesn’t react to this as an odd turn of events.
Clara continues to follow the string and is finally led to another tree and sees a key at the end of the string, only to have it stolen by a mouse just before she can get to it and after a short chase, the mouse makes it to the other side of a barely frozen over river. She tries to cross a bridge, only to be stopped by a Nutcracker Soldier, Captain Philip Hoffman. He explains that no one is allowed to cross the river, because the Fourth Realm is on the other side and it is at war with the other three realms. He’s very insistent on this, until he learns Clara’s name and learns she’s Marie’s daughter, then suddenly it’s “Princess.” He agrees to help her try and get the key, but their adventure in the Fourth Realm ends after an encounter with the Mouse King and then an appearance by the regent, Mother Ginger, who not only recognizes Clara, but claims to have her key. The Captain claims it’s a trap and the two run off.
They arrive at the capital, where again they are not taken seriously until people find out who Clara is. When that happens, she is immediately taken to see the Regents of the other three realms, Hawthorne, regent of the Land of Flowers; Shiver, regent of the Land of Snowflakes; and the Sugar Plum Fairy, regent of the Land of Sweets. They are excited to meet Clara and ask about her mother, unaware that she passed away. It seems the inhabitants of this world know as little about what happens in Clara’s world as Clara knew about this place. The Sugar Plum Fairy tells Clara about how Mother Ginger tried to take over the Four Realms and was banished.
After a pageant, Clara learns from the Sugar Plum Fairy that Marie created the world and gave life to previously lifeless toys. However, the machine that does this can’t work without the key, and the keyhole looks exactly like the keyhole in Clara’s egg. Now Clara knows why her mother must have sent her to this fantastical realm and she’s determined to get the key and save the world.
I mentioned that when Clara first entered the Four Realms, she didn’t react like this was a truly magical place. This is emblematic of the main problem of the movie. It just doesn’t come across as magical enough and the world seems too mundane. This is a shame, as the film could have been great, if they had leaned more heavily into the fantastical elements.
There are still elements of the movie that are worth recommending. Both Mackenzie Foy and Keira Knightley were great in the film. I can see a lot of the film’s target audience, pre-teen girls, really looking up to Clara. Additionally, if the movie had as much energy as Keira Knightley’s performance, it would have been better. And it should come as no surprise that the movie looks amazing. The production design, the costumes, etc. all look great. It adds up to a watchable movie, but not a must see.
Extras include a five-minute featurette about the ballet in the movie in general and Misty Copeland in particular. Up next is a seven-minute making-of featurette that focuses on the set design of the movie. There are also four minutes of deleted scenes and finally there are two music videos. This is not a lot for a first-run release, but this is not a surprise, since it really struggled at the box office.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms isn’t as bad as its reviews or its box office, but I can see why it didn’t connect with audiences. The extras on the DVD / Blu-ray / 4K Ultra HD are weaker than most first-run releases get, which further reduces its value. If you have kids of the right age, then it is worth checking out, but I would start with a rental.
Video on Demand (Movie Only)
Video on Demand (With Extras)
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The Movie
The Extras
The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review, Christopher Robin, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Morgan Freeman, Eugenio Derbez, Richard E. Grant, Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, Helen Mirren, Mackenzie Foy, Misty Copeland, Anna Madeley, Ellie Bamber, Tom Sweet, Jayden Fowora-Knight