Clara's mother died. The family feels it keenly, Clara and her father particularly, but they attend the grand Chhristmas party thrown by Clara's beloved godfather Drosselmeyer anyway. And the present he gives her leads to a magical realm where she must pick a side and fight for what's right.
This Disney Christmas family film has a story made up of bits and pieces from all sorts of sources, bolted together into a narrative of great, if non-specific, familiarity. We have the original The Nutcracker And the Mouse King on which the Tchaikovsky/Petipah ballet was based, but among the other more obvious inspirations are The Wizard Of Oz, The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, and Alice In Wonderland.
They work well enough to create a film which, I suspect, will become a family favourite, with exotic fantasy locations, some pleasing jeopardy, decent effects, and fun performances, not to mention a little bit of heart.
McKenzie Foy (the creepy half-CGI Renesmee in the final Twiglet movie) is adequate as Clara, but Jayden Fowora-Knight makes little impression as the Nutcracker. The pleasure is in the stars who play the incidental characters - Morgan Freeman as Drosselmeyer, Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger, Kiera Knightley as an unbelievably sugary Sugar Plum Fairy etc.
There is a moderate amount of the ballet music, and a small amount of well-presented dancing. It is utterly derivative, but fairly enjoyable for all that.
This Disney Christmas family film has a story made up of bits and pieces from all sorts of sources, bolted together into a narrative of great, if non-specific, familiarity. We have the original The Nutcracker And the Mouse King on which the Tchaikovsky/Petipah ballet was based, but among the other more obvious inspirations are The Wizard Of Oz, The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, and Alice In Wonderland.
They work well enough to create a film which, I suspect, will become a family favourite, with exotic fantasy locations, some pleasing jeopardy, decent effects, and fun performances, not to mention a little bit of heart.
McKenzie Foy (the creepy half-CGI Renesmee in the final Twiglet movie) is adequate as Clara, but Jayden Fowora-Knight makes little impression as the Nutcracker. The pleasure is in the stars who play the incidental characters - Morgan Freeman as Drosselmeyer, Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger, Kiera Knightley as an unbelievably sugary Sugar Plum Fairy etc.
There is a moderate amount of the ballet music, and a small amount of well-presented dancing. It is utterly derivative, but fairly enjoyable for all that.