Yes it just a typical Disney movie. Actor was OK. Props, costumes and scenery was amazing, Plot was super easy (but not cheesy). There is no significantly wrong with the movie. Recommended for kid and family.

I don't want to compare to Tim Burton movie, etc...it will ruin my imagination while watching it. Suprisingly, it's was a good movie. I rates 8 for beautiful costumes and props

When seeing the trailer for 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' seeing 'Christopher Robin' in the cinema a few months ago, it immediately went high up on my most anticipated films of the year list and one of the films that left me desperate and impatient to see it. Simply adore the 'Nutcracker' story, have read it and seen the ballet and many adaptations of it so many times, and Tchaikovsky's music and the cast involved boasted a lot of talent. How could it go wrong?

After seeing the less than favourable critical reception, my high expectations were lowered. Still saw it anyway being such a 'Nutcracker' fan and being determined to disagree with the critical consensus, thinking to myself could a film with such a promising trailer be that bad. My retrospective feelings are that 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' is not that bad and not one of the worst films of the year, plus it is much better than 'The Nutcracker 3D'. Unfortunately, count me in as someone who was disappointed, it may not one of the worst films of the year but it was one of the most disappointing. As a Disney fanatic too, while nowhere near as bad as 'A Wrinkle in Time' in particular of their relatively few misfires 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' is a lesser effort of theirs.

Regarding how it fares as an adaptation, actually did not interpret, despite being led to believe otherwise, 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' as a straight up adaptation or re-imagining of the story. If anything it was more of a sequel to the original Hoffmann story, which is frequently referenced throughout, although the protagonist of most of the adaptations is named Clara the protagonist's name in Hoffmann's story is Marie, the name given to Clara's deceased mother in this film.

Starting with the good things about 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms', it looks fantastic and is a visual feast. The production, set and costume design are truly sumptuously opulent with amazing attention to detail and colours at pop out at you. The effects are well crafted if not quite as meticulous. Another strong asset is the music, there is a healthy dose of Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker' throughout, incredible music embedded seamlessly. James Newton Howard's score sparkles with charm and magic that one wishes was with the rest of the film.

It starts off very well, starting with a striking opening sequence and there is some emotion and sense of purpose to begin with, despite it not being much new. The ending was sweet, but the highlight scene was the ballet sequence detailing how their world was created, there was drama there and it was magnificent musically and in dancing (as well as being one of the few parts where anything was explained properly). The performances were variable, with some good performances and a lot of bad ones. Starting with the good, Mackenzie Foy does a fine job carrying the film and does have likeability.

Matthew MacFadyen portrays the grieving and stern father well, and despite having far too little screen time Morgan Freeman brings mystery and gravitas to Drosselmeyer and barely recognisable Helen Mirren is an imperious Mother Ginger. Misty Copeland's effortless dancing is a major bonus, while the nuisance mouse indeed has more personality than most of the cast, and Gustavo Dudamel's contribution to the music performance should not be ignored, have no complaints regarding the orchestral playing or conducting, they bring the enchantment of the music wonderfully.

Unfortunately, the sense of wonder seen and heard in the visuals and music are not there in the script and story. 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' is like a pudding that looks so delicious and beautiful, but when one bites into it it tastes over-egged texturally and doesn't have enough flavour while hardly unpalatable. The above actors are the only ones to come over well. Jacob Fowora-Knight is very wooden while Keira Knightley's simpering overacting becomes annoying. The rest of the cast struggle to register in pretty useless roles that are either merely plot-devices or out of place distractions. Have liked a good deal of Lasse Hallstrom's previous work, 'My Life as a Dog' is a favourite, but somehow there was the sense he was the wrong director and not entirely sure what to do with the film.

Found the script too mechanical, bland and muddled, there was the sense too that it, like the story, wasn't sure whether it wanted to go the light-hearted, camp approach or serious approach. It tries to do both and executes both pretty poorly, the humorous elements clumsy, unfunny and out of place (annoying even) and the more serious elements taken too seriously that it robs the film of charm and magic and replaces it with a mean-spiritedness with a few darker elements (with some unintentionally creepy-looking harlequins that don't really do anything) that jar as much as the humour does.

'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' does lose momentum, to the point that the film becomes stuck when really it was the most urgent the film should have been, once Clara goes on the Fourth Realm quest. The final act suffers from a rushed and unexciting climax and a twist that was forced and actually guessable quite a fair bit of time before it was revealed. The film, on top of having a lot of over-familiar fantasy tropes, primarily suffers from a lack of emotion, magic and soul, all appearing in spurts (so at the beginning, the ballet sequence and the end),with much of the film feeling very hollow, flat characters that don't have much to engage properly with them let alone find them rootable and from feeling incomplete, disjointed and jumbled. The latter would have been rectified if the mythology of the Fourth Realm was explained much more (because that was very underdeveloped and confusing),that the Four Realms in general were gone into detail in much more because we don't learn much about them and if it tried to do quite a lot less and had a more focused tone. It tries to do too much and does little with it all.

Overall, to me it was not that bad but it did disappoint on too many levels. Should have been a lot better. 5/10 Bethany Cox

It's Christmas in Victorian London. Clara Stahlbaum (Mackenzie Foy) is excited when her father (Matthew Macfadyen) shows up with the kids' presents. Clara gets her late mother's ornate egg but the key is missing. The family attends a ball hosted by their godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman). He had made the egg and key for her mother. Clara steps into an alternate world where a mouse steals her mother's key. She encounters the Nutcracker Captain Philip Hoffman (Jayden Fowora-Knight) who reveals that her mother was a beloved Queen and by definition, she is a respected Princess. The mouse gives the key to the evil Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren) in the Fourth Realm. Sugar Plum (Keira Knightley) explains that her mother used a machine to animate them and they need the machine to animate an army to defend against Mother Ginger. It needs the same key to turn on as the egg.

The look is extravagance without the magic. It's CGI everywhere and it feels lifeless. I've always thought of Clara as a younger girl. Mackenzie Foy is around 17 and is more likely to be boy crazy. I wouldn't mind reworking that but the movie doesn't go there and Jayden Fowora-Knight is a dud anyways. The performances are pretty lifeless. The young leads are too stiff and the veterans are overwhelmed by the CGI. It's a reworking of the classic but I wish for more of the iconic music. The more recognizable music is relegated to the closing credits. It's a big epic but I'm never pull into it completely.