![]() ![]() It gives me the shivers.” Knightley continues her treasured holiday tradition of turning in a fully committed, bonkers performance in a movie totally undeserving of it. They’ll be huge!” To which the Sugar Plum Fairy, and I’m not exaggerating, purrs and says, “Wonderful!”Īt one point, as the Sugar Plum Fairy leads her army of giant tin soldiers to attack Mother Ginger, she declares, “Ooh. The Nutcracker (Jayden Fowora -Knight) stares on in horror, “You can’t do that. She orders tin soldiers to be placed under the ray. The Sugar Plum Fairy tricks Clara into giving her the key that operates a giant whirling machine with the power to bring toys to life. ![]() She starts out as a hyperactive, chirpy, confidante but soon transforms into a bawdy Mae West inspired, demented, fascist dictator hell-bent on total domination. Knightley’s Sugar Plum Fairy is far and away one of the best and most fun parts of Four Realms. Which means that Marie was Queen of them all, which makes sense because as we learn she is the one who discovered them. So counting Marie, that’s five rulers but only four realms. There’s a fourth reagent, Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), leader of the land of Amusements. Of course, you’d be wrong because Four Realms doesn’t trifle with such silly things such as math and logic. Now for those of your counting along you might notice that’s three, plus Clara’s mother makes four. We have the Sugar Plum Fairy (Keira Knightley) ruler of the land of Sweets, Hawthorne (Eugenio Derbez) ruler of the land of the Flowers, and Shiver (Richard E. She finds a key tied at the end of the rope and just as she reaches for it a mouse jumps out, grabs it, and runs away with Clara chasing it.įrom here she will be plunged into palace intrigue as she meets the four other regents of the realms. Clara follows the rope into Narnia the Christmas Tree Forest. He promised her a special gift but it’s hidden at the end of a long rope. He chuckles knowingly as the two bond over the wonders of science and mechanics. Her Father (Matthew Macfadyen) utters one of my favorite unintentionally morose and ominous lines all year: “Christmas is coming whether we like it or not.” He gives Clara a gift from her mother, a bejeweled Faberge egg with a lock but no key.Īt the party, she shows her Godfather, Freeman with an eyepatch, her Mother’s gift. Depressed and grief-stricken, Clara is in no mood to go to her Godfather’s party. Long story short the whole family is broken up by the death of Marie. She has a wonderfully expressive face that conveys stoicism and great emotion without overplaying the moment. Foy’s Clara was a refreshing mix of confident with just the right amount of self-doubt befitting her character’s young age. ![]() She has a curious and inventive mind.įoy’s Clara is the least of the problems in Four Realms. Not frivolous things like dresses and makeup. The opening is their way of showing us that Clara is a special girl. Lass Hallstrom and Joe Johnston co-directed Four Realms. Luckily the mouse was waiting patiently for it machine to work itself out. It takes almost a full minute for the trap to go through its machinations before dropping the cage onto the mouse. Clara does build an elaborate Rube Goldberg device to catch a mouse and unlike the game, it works. The object of the game was to construct an elaborate Rube Goldberg device that ultimately does nothing but sow dissent and acrimony among all who play it. By “mousetrap” I am of course referring to the classic 1980’s Milton Bradley game. Let’s start from the beginning: Young Clara is teaching her little brother Fritz (Tom Sweet) how to build a mousetrap. Sprinkle in treachery, evil clowns, and a smidge of ballet and it’s the wonderful classic Holiday tale we all know and love. To top it all of there’s a machine that brings toys to life. She stumbles into the middle of a cold war between the realms and inadvertently heats it up. Clara finds out she is a Princess, which means her recently deceased mother Marie (Anna Madeley) was a Queen. Before you ask her name is pronounced, “Star-bomb.” Admittedly a wonderfully badass name that is wasted in Ashleigh Powell’s script. A lot happens in Four Realms but very little of it matters much less makes any sense.įour Realms is the story of a young girl Clara Stahlbaum (Mackenzie Foy) and the adventures she has one night at a Christmas party held by her Godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman). A more accurate term would be “a bastardization” of the classic short story and ballet. Hoffman’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and Marius Petipa’s The Nutcracker, would be misleading. To call The Nutcracker and the Four Realms an adaptation, or even a retelling of E.T.A.
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