Quickie Review: Alice in Wonderland
by admin on Mar.04, 2010, under Film, Posts, Quickie Review
The first thing you should know about Alice in Wonderland going into the theater is this is not the Alice you’ve known from the past. Not exactly. Tim Burton’s new twist on Alice is indeed based in Lewis Carroll’s imaginative creations from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, but this is an entirely new sequel of sorts in which we find a 19 year-old Alice (Mia Wasikowski) returning to Wonderland 12 years after her first adventure there. She doesn’t remember the first visit and the inhabitants of this strange land aren’t entirely sure she’s the same Alice.
Burton’s new twisty, trippy take on Carroll’s writings features a motley crew cast list that includes Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter; Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen; Anne Hathaway as the White Queen; Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts; Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar; Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit and Stephen Fry as that cat with the infamous shit-eating grin, the Cheshire Cat. It’s hard to imagine a more perfect group to fill this wild world and Tim Burton seems like the ideal choice to bring a live action Alice to the silver screen.
The story first teases Wonderland with a dull opening where the daydreaming Alice is being primped to accept a proposal of marriage from the dorky Lord Ascot (Tim Pigott-Smith). Thankfully, it doesn’t last long. As soon as the Lord gets down on one knee, Alice flees the scene and jumps down a rabbit hole. Wouldn’t hold your breath there, Lord.
The early exploration of Wonderland is colorful, movie magical fun. It’s entertaining to see the director’s take on the world, a sort of Burton-ized version of the iconic imagery from book illustrations and the classic Disney animated film. CG characters abound, as is to be expected these days, but mostly the work is strong enough to avoid distracting you too much from the fantastical world.
Johnny Depp’s turn as Mad Hatter has drawn the biggest anticipation from fans and, now that I’ve seen it, I’m sad to report that it’s pretty underwhelming. Much like the crazy smiling lunatic Depp already played in Charlie in the Chocalate Factory, the Hatter is weird for weird’s sake. And that’s not to say that is always necessarily a bad thing, but here it just feels like déjà vu. My favorite performance by far is Bonham Carter as the crater-headed Red Queen. The actress really dives into the character, ahem, head first. It looks like she had a blast in the role and her energy really shines through. From the voice to the facial expressions, Bonham Carter really puts her own mark on the role, out-crazying even Depp, shocking as that may be. And as excited as I was to hear Crispin Glover would be joining the cast list, he’s kinda so-so as well. There’s only so many times you can see Glover’s creepy look before it gets more than a little tiresome. Dare I say he needed to be even weirder?
And what about Alice? Well, she’s the least interesting part of this story. Washikowski is perfectly okay in the role, but a little flat and one-dimensional at times. Either way, Burton’s focus was clearly never on Alice, so it’s hard to blame the young actress. She’s in a pretty unenviable position.
It’s kind of hard to figure why Burton and co. felt the need to offer their own interpretation on such a beloved work. It’s an ill-advised move that rarely leads positive result. While Burton and screenwriter Linda Wollverton’s script is competent enough and holds interest through most of the story, it often feels a little short-sighted and unclear, especially as the movie draws towards an unnecessary climax. At best, this new Alice is uneven. The pacing is all over the map and the laughs are almost always followed by gags that land with a sound thud. Burton may be a good director and Wolverton, who also penned The Lion King, is a good screenwriter, but neither is the storyteller Lewis Carroll was.
As much as the world of Wonderland seems perfectly-suited to 3-D, it really adds nothing at all to the movie. Of course, Alice wasn’t actually filmed in 3-D and the post work feels haphazard at best. It isn’t terribly immersive and the image is darkened by the glasses, giving viewers the feeling of wearing sunglasses throughout the movie. I tipped my glasses up more than once to see the brighter, more colorful Alice originally intended.
Tim Burton is the master of weird material, but it almost seems as Alice was just a bit too obvious for him. Did he get bored in Wonderland? It kinda seems that way by the end, which feels more than a little phoned in. The end result is a movie that is decently enjoyable escapism, but entirely forgettable in the long run.
Quickie Score: 6.5 (out of 10)
Quickie Review: World’s Greatest Dad
18 Comments for this entry
2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks for this entry
-
LEROY
September 5th, 2010 on 8:26 amBuy:Nexium.Arimidex.Lumigan.Petcam (Metacam) Oral Suspension.Prednisolone.Valtrex.Prevacid.Synthroid.Actos.100% Pure Okinawan Coral Calcium.Retin-A.Zyban.Zovirax.Human Growth Hormone.Mega Hoodia.Accutane….
-
JAMIE
September 6th, 2010 on 4:46 amBuy:Viagra Super Active+.Cialis Professional.Levitra.Viagra.Maxaman.Viagra Super Force.Viagra Soft Tabs.Cialis.Cialis Super Active+.Cialis Soft Tabs.Soma.Viagra Professional.Super Active ED Pack.Zithromax.VPXL.Tramadol.Propecia….
March 7th, 2010 on 12:40 am
Just watched this movie. It’s worth to watch. some plotI believe that because they had to “improvise” and write a new story continuing the original one, the quality of the screenplay and plot decreased significantly. Also it was rather short since I expected 120 minutes at least and not 100. Finally I would this movie performed below my expectations. A 7/10 would be a fair grade in my honest opinion.
March 8th, 2010 on 6:46 pm
OMG, I love over Johnny ever since 21 JumpStreet!( Holy Cow am I showing how old I am ). I can’t wait to see Alice In Wonderland.
March 27th, 2010 on 3:27 am
It’s a damn shame then that this meticulously crafted, psychedelic visual-journey isn’t matched with a screenplay that was given just as much effort. The inbuilt metaphors of the Alice tale are still there however writer Linda Woolverton adds very little in the way of character development or plot undercurrents, seemingly intent on relying on the visual effects wizards and actors to contribute the extra layers. Her biggest missed opportunity is further exploration into the Mad Hatter or even the White Queen – both of whom are half-baked caricatures – with the Hatter coming off as a mere chance for Depp to be quirky, rather than the cleverly-written character with an interesting back story that he should have been. To Woolverton’s credit though, she did manage to concoct some deliriously amusing dialogue for the Hatter and the Red Queen; a small highlight of her script which partially redeems her lack-lustre attempts elsewhere.
March 29th, 2010 on 8:29 am
That is nice to definitely find a site where the blogger knows what they are talking about.
March 30th, 2010 on 8:27 am
Thank you for the info, great information on your site.
April 10th, 2010 on 5:43 pm
Howdy, I’m a long-time lurker and also have been too shy to create a comment.
April 12th, 2010 on 6:32 pm
I am a huge fan of your blog and I read it regularly. Keep up the good work!
April 17th, 2010 on 2:29 am
this kind of attractive female… I assume the girl is stunning, and gotta really enjoy any many other Scorpio, seeing when most people reveal the same bday she’s only a yr old
April 17th, 2010 on 3:00 am
eye-catching, I adore that how the girl often seems so healthy, together with that amazing smile
April 22nd, 2010 on 6:28 am
Your header is a bit wonky in Opera, mate.
April 22nd, 2010 on 1:19 pm
This is totally a solid post. It actually talked to me yesterday, so cheers.
April 23rd, 2010 on 2:27 am
Love your blog. Will be coming back quite a bit.
April 23rd, 2010 on 7:39 am
Thank you for the info, great information on your site.
April 27th, 2010 on 8:02 am
This seems like the most comprehensive blog on this niche
April 27th, 2010 on 2:58 pm
neat stuff, cheers man
May 18th, 2010 on 7:38 pm
Seriously! This is a really fantastic post! Keep up the good work!
May 19th, 2010 on 5:34 pm
Tim Burton has a unique style when making his movie. I love Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands.**:
June 8th, 2010 on 3:44 am
I admire what you have done here. I like the part where you say you are doing this to give back but I would assume by all the comments that this is working for you as well.