Review of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) by Ron R — 01 Dec 2018

I must be the only one that LOVED this movie...

I'm not an 'over-entertained', or visually-spoiled regular movie-watching critic like most of these people giving this movie such a bad review.

For all the bad things people have said about this movie, here's the things I loved about it that the critics seemed to have just missed:

1) Lots of us never understood the ballet version of The Nutcracker Suite, and frankly some of us just think Ballet is too boring to sit through and try to figure out the storyline, but this movie totally helps RE-INTERPRET this story, for us non-ballet lovers to an exciting version which is much easier to understand, without sitting through all the dancing, YET still pays respect to the music and displays some of the ballet to pay tribute to the original masterpiece.

2) I say if people want to see the ORIGINAL Nutcracker Ballet, there are ALREADY PLENTY of that to see on video or ON STAGE LIVE of the SAME OLD STORY.

3) I've just lost my mother this year, and this story is exactly what I needed to ESCAPE my grief into this Disney fantasy land. I've been feeling dead inside with no Christmas Spirit until I saw this movie tonight, which reminded me that 'Missing someone' really means you're fondly remembering them, therefore what a wonderful way to honor them.

4) I love Disney's positive message about 'not judging a book by its cover' ... that just because a person or thing doesn't look outwardly "pretty", it doesn't mean they are immediately bad or evil ... and vice versa.

5) Anyone whose mother has just passed away will really appreciate this movie ... I had a few moments when my eyes welled up with tears with how Clara, her father and her siblings deal with their grief about the loss of their Mother / Wife.

6) Clara uses the passing of her mother as a source of STRENGTH and to remember all the GOOD life lessons her mother taught her.

7) The sets, wardrobe, colors, music were rich, lush and absolute eye-candy, just what you would expect from a Disney production.

So I, as a layman movie watcher, gives The Nutcracker Suite And The Four Realms 2 Thumbs-Up and 5-STARS!