A Wrinkle In Time (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Disney had high hopes for the big budget adaptation of the classic book A Wrinkle In Time. Making waves by hiring on acclaimed director Ava DuVernay to helm as well as exciting diverse casting announcements. Unfortunately, this didn’t really take off as they’d have liked and opened to poor reviews as it bombed at the box office back this spring. But, when you’re making Black Panther and Infinity War money, the studio can afford to try something like this out and keep trying something like this out. The film is coming to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray for those who missed it to check out, and maybe it’ll develop a following after its theatrical release. It comes with a nice package of supplemental features and will be hitting shelves on June 5th.
Film 
Meg Murry and her little brother, Charles Wallace, have been without their scientist father, Mr. Murry, for five years, ever since he discovered a new planet and used the concept known as a tesseract to travel there. Joined by Meg’s classmate Calvin O’Keefe and guided by the three mysterious astral travelers known as Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, the children brave a dangerous journey to a planet that possesses all of the evil in the universe.
Its a bummer that A Wrinkle In Time just doesn’t quite work out. There is a load of ambition thrown into this film, but it never feels fully engaging. The film is one that seems to tease us at some kind of deeper meaning to everything, but never really offers anything but surface level emotions and lessons. Its visually quite marvelous, but overall a bit empty and just never feels like much progressed even though a lot happens.
The film features a terrific main cast, but some of the ancillary players and scenes as written come off as really dopey or poor at times. There’s a moment Charles Wallace overhears a couple teachers talking and the acting, dialogue and execution feels right out of some right-wing religious film. Much of the film’s dialogue is a boat load of exposition and adages that do get plenty tired after a while. It also features this weird cadence between the characters when they converse.
I’ve been a little harsh here, as a I do think the movie can succeed quite well for kids as they will marvel at the world and things are pretty easy for them to follow. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one does catch on and becomes The NeverEnding Story for this modern generation of kids. Maybe that’s part of what’s not working for me is my age. A Wrinkle In Time is a film I was pretty eager to check out and I wanted to like a lot, but I found myself separated from it a lot and a little tired at times. Odd that I can speak the way I have about but still say its a solid recommend for a family movie night as something new and original.
Video
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 4K (216op)
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Layers: BD-66
Clarity/Detail: A Wrinkle In Time comes to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a dazzling image that blows the standard Blu-ray out of the water. You see firm, crisper details as well as better blacks. The sharpness is quite good too and the colors will widen your eyes. The only thing that may be of fault here, is that the special effects don’t hold up quite as well, with more of the strings showing and giving a sort of hint of being almost Robert Rodriguez-like.
Depth: Good foreground and background distancing here as the characters and objects move smoothly and naturally through the frame with no distortion issues.
Black Levels: Blacks are natural and terrific here. No crushing at all, as we have excellent shading and dark scenes that retain the character of a scene and details within. Here’s where you can see a real difference between the 4K and standard Blu-ray.
Color Reproduction: WOW, this is gorgeous. Colors are vivid and bursting through your screen here. There are different levels of glow and your HDR makes it look quite beautiful. There’s no need for an example as you just can look at any given scene and see how lovely the colors are.
Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and very bold, full and rich looking throughout the film. Facial features are clear as day at any given distance with something like lipstick glitter looking visible to the spec.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio, French 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus, Spanish 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Dynamics: A Wrinkle In Time does still have that Disney thing where you have to turn it up, but not a lot this time around. And once you get it right, it does have impact and comes across as pretty full sounding. Effects sounds pretty strong and the overall balance of the mix is terrific.
Height: Thing fly overhead, thunder crackles, and other effects shoot across the ceiling speaker with good ease.
Low Frequency Extension: Energy bursts, big wing flaps, destruction and other things really bring a boom on the subwoofer.
Surround Sound Presentation: Sound travel and placement are pretty fun in this mix to help carry the action on screen. Distinct sounds and ambiance are quite good in the rear and side speakers.
Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are crisp and clear with all diction carried well no matter how big or little the action of a scene.
Extras
A Wrinkle In Time 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray comes with the standard Blu-ray edition and a digital copy of the film. Bonus features are found on the standard Blu-ray disc.
Audio Commentary
- By Director Ava DuVernay, Producer Jim Whitaker, Co-Writer Jennifer Lee, Production Designer Naomi Shohan, 1st AD Michael Moore, Editor Spencer Averick & VFX Supervisor Rich McBride
A Journey Through Time (HD, 30:28) – A very solid making of that covers all aspects of the production from adapting, to casting, costuming, shooting, effects and diversity being a key player. Its full of interviews with all the cast a crew members.
Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary (HD, 9:36)
Original Songs Music Videos (HD, 7:48) – “I Believe” Performed By DJ Khaled featuring Demi Lovato, “Warrior” Performed by Chloe X Halle
Bloopers (HD, 1:36)
Summary
A Wrinkle In Time is a movie that doesn’t quite come together, but its ambition is enjoyed and makes for a solid fantasy film. This 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray is one of Disney’s best and real beauty just to look at. There’s a little bit of improvement in their Atmos usage that is appreciated as well. Extras make this a pretty solid package. This is the copy you want to pick up if you’re grabbing one.
