![]() ![]() ![]() Clever Clara Stahlbaum and her young brother Fritz (Tom Sweet) are up in the attic of the family home using toys and the laws of physics to rig a complicated mouse trap, foreshadowing a key plot point later on. In the opening sequence, we’re in Harry Potter territory as an owl soars and swoops over Olde London Town, or a mostly CG version of it, setting the Christmastime scene via a massive decorated tree in a public square. She also flutters about on dragonfly wings, just like Tinker Bell. If the conception of the character owes something to Elizabeth Banks’ Effie Trinket in the Hunger Games series, well, that’s consistent with a movie that constantly recalls superior inspirations. And Keira Knightley brings a mischievous campy spirit to the Sugar Plum Fairy, gliding around crowned by an upsweep of cotton-candy curls and speaking in a breathy, excitable squeak until she reveals her not entirely unexpected petulant side. She’s feisty and determined enough to appeal to contemporary sensibilities, yet not so much that she pulls you out of the old-world reality that grounds the story. The movie’s best asset is young lead Mackenzie Foy as Clara, a 14-year-old Victorian girl with the sharp logistical mind of a budding engineer. ![]()
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