A Wrinkle In Time Review: 3 Ups & 6 Downs

4. Ava DuVernay's Disappointingly Bland Direction

Most of the hype for A Wrinkle in Time revolved around director Ava DuVernay making a leap from lower-budget, artier fare into full-tilt blockbuster filmmaking, especially as this was the first time a black woman filmmaker had ever been given a $100 million budget.

It's a damn shame, then, that DuVernay actually comes across pretty out of her depth here, cutting away too quickly from epic shots and moving the camera around far too excitedly, to the point that it's quite irritating.

There's little of the filmmaking ingenuity on display you'd expect from a director of her calibre, and if you saw the film sight unseen, you'd probably assume it was helmed by an anonymous hack quickly grabbing a paycheck.

At least DuVernay's career isn't suffering for the film's poor reception, as she's already been hired to direct the upcoming DC movie New Gods. Still, even with the script being as bad as it is, her work here isn't particularly encouraging for her ability to swim in the blockbuster arena.