Millennials Talking Cinema: ‘Nutcracker’ mystifies,’ ‘Rhapsody’ rocks

‘So, I Just Saw This Movie ...’ Petaluma film reviews|

Two new films, each inspired by beloved pieces of music, take huge creative risks on their way to the big screen, but one - Disney’s hallucinogenic “The Nutcracker and Four Realms” - falls down hard, while the other - the pulse-quickening Freddy Mercury biography “Bohemian Rhapsody” - mostly just soars and soars.

Oddly enough, both films have two directors.

“Nutcracker,” based on the beloved Tchaikovsky ballet (in turn based on the book by E.T.A. Hoffman) was helmed by Lasse Halstrom (“Chocolat,” “Cider House Rules”) and Joe Johnson (“Captain America: The First Avenger”), while “Rhapsody” began under the guidance of Brian Singer (“The Usual Subjects,” “X-Men”), but was completed by Dexter Fletcher (“Wild Bill”) after the original director was fired from the project just weeks before completion.

The film, filled with indelible Queen tunes, stars Rami Malex (“Mr. Robot”) as Mercury. As for “Nutcracker,” the star-studded cast features Mackenzie Foy as Clara, Kiera Knightley as Sugar Plum, Morgan Freeman as Drosselmeyer and Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger.

Here’s what some our pool of millennial film critics have to say.

‘THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS’ (PG)

Amber-Rose Reed says:

This is a strange movie, a dark, CGI-glittery take on the classic Christmas tale. I think the filmmakers were going for a sweeping, epic feel, but mostly, it just feels convoluted. It’s also sloppily scripted and heavy-handed.

But it is often quite pretty.

I think the ultimate failure of “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is that it tries to be too many things all at once. It tries to be gritty and enchanting, serious and silly, “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games.”

It really didn’t need to be.

At its core, this movie is about loss. Grief can isolate, and Mackenzie Foy does a good job portraying the anger, sadness and confusion that comes at the death of a loved one. Clara’s emotional journey was far more compelling than the seemingly-apocalyptic stakes the viewers were force-fed.

I wish they would have trusted it. Instead, the movie feels like little more than a cynical attempt at a cash-grab.

‘BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY’ (PG-13)

Katie Wigglesworth says:

I absolutely loved the new movie “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Most band-centered biopics follow a fairly predictable formula, and while “Bohemian Rhapsody” utilizes that pattern to a degree - band meets, band finds style, band makes it big - it has something other music biopics just don’t.

It has Queen.

The choice to have Rami Malek lip-sync to Freddie Mercury’s voice is extremely effective in emulating the sound that made Queen such a powerhouse group, with only one or two truly “uncanny valley” dubbed moments. Malek delivers a transcendent, eerily accurate and riveting performance of the iconic lead singer, whose personal journey of sexuality and love is told with deft reverence.

The movie is visually stunning, fantastically paced, and it manages to balance being about both Queen and Freddie Mercury without falling out of focus on either one. Poignant, funny and raucous in all the right places, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a beautifully crafted musical tour that commands your love and attention from start to finish, much like the song it’s named for.

I will definitely be going again.

(“So, I Just Saw This Movie …” is a new film review column, running every-other-week in the Argus-Courier. In this column, a rotating pool of millennial writers take turns giving their candid and deeply personal views of the latest cinematic releases.)

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