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The Nutcracker And The Four Realms - 2018
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Coming up next we have 2018's "The Nutcracker And The Four Realms", a story in which a young girl floundering in the midst of grief travels to an unknown world and regains the confidence she needs to face life.
The film's cast includes Mackenzie Foy, Morgan Freeman, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Matthew Macfadyen, Jayden Fowora-Knight, Eugenio Derbez, Richard E. Grant, Omid Djalili, Jack Whitehall, Misty Copeland, Anna Madeley, and Ellie Bamber.
The scene is Victorian London, England. It's cold and snowy, but the city is teeming and bustling with people.
It's Christmas Eve, and the residents of the Stahlbaum house are not feeling very festive. It is their first Christmas without their wife/mother. However, before she died Marie Stahlbaum had prepared gifts to give to each of her children.
Of all the children, Clara seems to be struggling the most. Her mother's gift to her is an egg with a special lock. However, there is no key. Clara finds a note in her mother's handwriting that says everything she needs is inside the egg. She's confused, but she also has an idea of who to look to for answers.
That night, the Stahlbaums are guests at the home of Drosselmeyer, who is the children's godfather. The house is filled with people enjoying the festivities.
Clara sneaks down to Drosselmeyer's workshop, where she meets up with her godfather. To her disappointment, he can't give her any other information about the egg except that he was the one who made it.
After a ballet performance, Drosselmeyer takes to the stage and announces that it's time for gifts. All of the children rush outside where they find a string with their names attached to it. Each child must follow their individual string to claim their gift.
After an argument with her father, Clara isn't feeling very festive, but she follows her string just the same. It takes her to some very secluded spots in Drosselmeyer's enormous mansion.
To her complete surprise, the string leads Clara to a strange world contained within the Drosselmeyer house. At the end of the string, she finds the key that she's been looking for, which will unlock her egg.
A mouse quickly steals the key before Clara has the chance to grab it. The little mouse runs deeper into the snowy forest.
Clara comes upon a nutcracker, Captain Phillip Hoffman, and he seems to recognize the name "Stahlbaum". When she mentions that her mother was Marie, he bows and calls her "Your Majesty". He agrees to lead her through the "Fourth Realm", a scary place which has him on his guard at all times.
In the fourth realm, Clara and the Captain come across a Mouse King as well as a terrifying creature known as Mother Ginger.
Following their narrow escape from the Fourth Realm, the Captain brings Clara to a large palace, where she sees a portrait of her mother dressed as a queen hanging on the wall.
Inside the palace, Clara meets the Regents of the Four Realms. There's Hawthorne, the Regent of the Land of Flowers. There's Shiver, the Regent of the Land of Snowflakes. And there's Sugar Plum, the Regent of the Land of Sweets. All three are thrilled to see Clara and make her feel very welcome.
On a tour through the palace, Sugar Plum reveals that Clara's mother Marie created this world and was installed as Queen Marie. Sugar Plum also says that after Marie left, Mother Ginger tried to take control of the Four Realms.
Sugar Plum also shows Clara that the entire world of the Four Realms is actually contained inside the clock in Drosselmeyer's ballroom. Clara looks around in wonder at all she sees.
The regents plan a pageant for Clara, and they also arrange for her to visit their respective realms.
The pageant depicts the creation of the Four Realms. When they get to Mother Ginger's part, Sugar Plum looks at Clara and says, "Mother Ginger’s the one who began this war. I hope you’ll be the one to finish it."
Sugar Plum can't create the army they need to protect themselves from Mother Ginger without a key to the machine that created all the people within the Four Realms. It turns inanimate objects to life. Clara discovers that the missing key is the same one that will open her egg.
With her trusty Nutcracker Captain at her side, Clara decides to go to the Fourth Realm and take back the key from Mother Ginger, who received it from the mouse who originally stole it from Clara.
However, Mother Ginger has quite a different story to tell than Sugar Plum. In Mother Ginger's story, it is Sugar Plum that seized control and pushed Mother Ginger from power. Clara takes the key and refuses to believe what Mother Ginger has told her.
Once the key is within her grasp, Sugar Plum wastes no time creating a life-sized army of tin soldiers. She gives the order to attack the Fourth Realm. Clara is shocked, because Sugar Plum originally said that she wanted the army to defend not attack.
Her true colors now showing, Sugar Plum explains to Clara why she's doing what she is doing. "Your mother abandoned us. And then?
She just expects us to carry on and play nice. Well, I don’t want to
play nice!" she exclaims.
With the key, Clara is finally able to open her egg. When she looks inside, she sees a mirror, and finds her own reflection staring back at her. Everything she needs is already inside herself.
Meanwhile, the Captain has gone back to the Fourth Realm to ask for Mother Ginger's help in defeating Sugar Plum.
Mother Ginger creates a distraction in the palace, while Clara works behind the scenes. Sugar Plum asks Mother Ginger where Clara is. Mother Ginger's response is that she's gone. Triumphantly, Sugar Plum begins to sing "Then I'm the queen of the castle...and you're a dirty rascal."
Clara is able to take the machine that turns toys to soldiers and reverse the process. She turns Sugar Plum back into the doll that she originally was. The Four Realms are safe once more.
On a special day of celebration, Mother Ginger thanks Clara for saving them all. She also promotes the Nutcracker Captain to Captain of the Guards.
Before she returns home, Clara steps out on the palace balcony to the adulation of the gathered crowds, and she promises to return one day.
The Captain returns Clara to the spot where she came from. He tells her that he'll miss her. "I'll miss you, too," she says. "But when you miss someone, you remember them." And with that, she steps back into Drosselmeyer's house.
Clara finds her father, and the two repair their relationship. They dance the night away, first under the stars then in the ballroom surrounded by their family and friends.
Cast rundown:
Mackenzie Foy....................................Clara Stahlbaum
Morgan Freeman.................................Drosselmeyer
Keira Knightley...................................Sugar Plum
Helen Mirren.......................................Mother Ginger
Matthew Macfadyen.............................Benjamin Stahlbaum
Jayden Fowora-Knight..........................Captain Phillip Hoffman
Eugenio Derbez...................................Hawthorne
Richard E. Grant..................................Shiver
Omid Djalili.........................................Cavalier
Jack Whitehall.....................................Harlequin
Misty Copeland....................................Ballerina Princess
Anna Madeley......................................Marie Stahlbaum
Ellie Bamber........................................Louise Stahlbaum
And that's all for The Nutcracker And The Four Realms. After she saw the final product, Mackenzie Foy (Clara) declared that she wanted to throw up after seeing the scene with the Mouse King...because they terrify her. Helen Mirren (Mother Ginger) had to take whip cracking lessons for one scene in the film. This enabled her character to have the visual pun of a "ginger snap".
The ballet scenes in this film were performed by Misty Copeland, a principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre. Her scenes are very well done in the film. Stick around during the credits for some more beautiful dancing to the Nutcracker music.
