Oprah, Angels, and L'Engle

the real question is if this will morph to a "new age" fuzziness or be true to it's universal themes  of good vs evil...

like Tolkien, the Christian themes in the book are not obvious and actually are universal, but without the idea that there is evil and it can seduce even good people (in the book, her younger brother, who is smart but not wise) the book turns into mush.

 ... in the book, Mrs Who is an angel (as was Gandalf)... She tells Meg of the struggle against darkness, and mentions many heroes on earth who fought the darkness, including (but not only) Jesus (which should make the fundies nuts, but is actually Biblical since all who fight evil and do good deeds are on the good side of the fight). Like Stephen King's The Stand, it is up to ordinary folks to chose which side they should join.

the previous remake as a Disney channel movie was boring.

The multiracial casting is interesting and doesn't change the story, except that it might put a racial aspect into why Meg is an outsider, and a stubborn geek not fitting in at school... in the book, Meg was told that her best weapon would be her faults, i.e. inability to conform and stubbornness... and indeed the reason she can overcome the super brain because she is stubborn.

Sort of like the stubborn Michael Caine character in the Iprcress file...