ANot So-wondrous Wonderland

A review of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Crispin Glover…

As a passionate cinema lover and frequent moviegoer, I have to say that one of my most favorite things about this industry is the killer combo between director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp; two amazing talents with great chemistry that produced such cinematic masterpieces as Ed Wood, Edward Scissor Hands and many more. So when you learn that they teamed up again to turn one of the world’s most famous childrens’ books - Alice in Wonder lan into a movie, you will be, naturally, quite psyched. But the minuses of being a Burton/Depp fan is that you tend to expect more from the two, especially from the former, who considers this work a lifetime dream project. What you get in the end is a film that’s all show and little go. I knew going into this, that it wasn’t really a version of the classic books “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There”, but I didn’t realized just how removed it would be. Instead of the crazy world the readers have always loved, this is a world twisted to resemble other films such as “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and “The Golden Compass.” It’s great to look at. But I found myself disengaged and, ultimately, wondering when the battle scenes were going to end. Initially, I was thrilled by the young version of Alice, and admired the way she talked about her nightmares that continue into her young adulthood. The little girl looks so much like the original drawings by John Tenniel, but the other characters (with the exception of the White Rabbit), not so much.

Burton’s Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is grownup and sullen. She’s upset about an arranged marriage to an unpleasant but wealthy man named Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill). A grand lawn party turns out to be her engagement celebration, much to Alice’s dismay. When Hamish asks for her hand, the guests watch for Alice’s certain “Yes”, instead, Alice scampers off and literally tumbles down the rabbit hole (this brief journey is glorious in 3D), where the denizens of Under land, as it’s called here, remember her very well. Alice is befriended by the Mat Hatter (Johnny Depp, in all his Edward Scissor hands-type glory), but she is threatened by the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) and the vicious Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), whose mantra is “Off with his head!” She also runs into the Cheshire cat (voice of Stephen Fry), the Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) and the fearsome Jabberwocky(Christopher Lee).

The look of the surroundings is magnificent - no surprise with Burton behind the camera - nevertheless there is little in the way of character development. A battle scene toward the end becomes tedious and then simply boring. Kids will like the film’s wild look but they won’t come away with much. Frankly speaking, I had much more fun re-reading the stories and looking at the original Tenniel illustrations…