Alice in Wonderland Review

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 03.05.2010

Tim Burton proves to be the best person to make an Alice in Wonderland movie but is that a good thing?

Directed by Tim Burton
Written by Linda Woolverton
Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski
Music Composed by Danny Elfman

Cast
Johnny Depp ... Mad Hatter
Mia Wasikowska ... Alice
Helena Bonham Carter ... Red Queen
Anne Hathaway ... \White Queen
Crispin Glover ... Stayne – Knave of Hearts
Matt Lucas ... Tweedledee/Tweedledum
Stephen Fry ... Cheshire Cat
Michael Sheen ... White Rabbit
Alan Rickman ... Blue Caterpillar
Barbara Windsor ... Dormouse
Paul Whitehouse ... March Hare
Timothy Spall ... Bayard
Michael Gough ... Dodo Bird
Imelda Staunton ... Tall Flower Faces
Christopher Lee ... Jabberwocky
Mairi Ella Challen ... 6-Year-Old Alice

Runtime: 108 min
MPAA: Rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar.
Official Website




Leaving the screening of Alice in Wonderland, one of my only thoughts was that no one but Tim Burton could have made this movie. I am not a huge fan of the 1951 Disney animated classic, it is a bit too strange although I understand that was the entire point of the story to begin with. I often thought that the animators and writers had to be on some serious drugs to make that movie. Well, that entire thought process fits in well with Burton’s style of filmmaking and, if nothing else, the movie is almost a “Tim Burton’s Greatest Hits” film.

There is a little bit of Edward Scissorhands, a lot of Batman, a dash of Sweeny Todd and a touch of Beetlejuice, especially in Johnny Depp’s character of The Mad Hatter. When the camera swoops out of the sky during the Danny Elfman composed opening title sequence, it is clear we are watching a Tim Burton film. Has he really become that predictable?

For the unaware, this movie is not a remake of Alice in Wonderland, but instead a sequel. Author Lewis Carroll wrote a series of books surrounding Alice’s adventures in Wonderland and this movie is both an extension of the original novel as well as added touches from the second novel, Through the Looking Glass. After a short opening where Alice’s father explains it is okay to have the strange dreams she is continuously having. We then cut to thirteen years later when a nineteen year old Alice is being whisked away into a trap her mother has planned. See, Alice is about to be proposed to in a very public forum and is expected to say yes.

This opening is nothing like what I expected coming in. It was very similar to historical romances like Pride & Prejudice, with corsets and Victorian manners. Her father has been dead for a few years and she is still having the dream that has haunted her since childhood. While at the garden party, she sees the strange rabbit from her dreams, dressed in the waistcoat and holding a pocket watch. Finally when the proposal comes, she races after the rabbit and once again falls into the worm hole.

Mia Wasikowska plays Alice in an awkward manner. The design of our lead character is amazing, as she ranges from six inches tall to well over 20 feet in height. She makes her way through Wonderland, refusing to believe it is anything more than another dream. This plot point grows tiresome as the movie progresses and she refuses to believe any of this is really happening, even after being injured. I continuously questioned her stupidity during the movie and every time the Blue Caterpillar called her stupid, I had to agree. There is naïve and there is Alice.

The rest of the cast is star studded and almost everyone is excellent in their roles, led by Johnny Depp as the magnificent Mad Hatter. The only complaint I have is that I didn’t understand half of what he was saying. That works well with the crazed, psychotic personality of the Hatter, so I can live with it. I am sure most of what he was jabbering was not important anyway, used as more of a building of the atmosphere.

That atmosphere, the crazy three ring circus of characters Tim Burton has always filled his movies with, is on display here in magnificent fashion. This movie is easily a front runner for Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Best Costumes for a motion picture. The color palette of Wonderland, the character designs of the creatures, the costumes, and the great makeup on both the Mad Hatter and The Red Queen were magnificent. The Red Queen is played with haunting pathos by Helena Bonham Carter. She is evil and this is more evident by the scene where Alice must make her way across a moat full of severed heads, skipping across the heads as she makes her way there.

Carter plays the evil Queen with a sadness that gives her evil aspirations (“Off with their heads!”) a tortured feel. She is the ugly duckling of a sister, paling to the beauty of her younger sibling, The White Queen. She surrounds herself with people as horrible disfigured as herself and finds herself immensely attracted to The Knave of Hearts, played by the always creepy Crispin Glover. She is evil, but she is someone to pity overall.

The voice actors playing the mystical creatures of Wonderland are all wonderfully done, from Stephen Fry’s Cheshire Cat to Michael Sheen’s White Rabbit. Also providing voices are Timothy Spall (Bayard), Michael Gough (Dodo Bird), Matt Lucas (Tweedledee and Tweedledum), Christopher Lee (The Jabberwocky) and a wonderfully dry Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar.

The 411: While the story is as strange and disorienting as the original, it works in Tim Burton’s hands. I feel bad I can’t get over the fact Burton is simply rehashing his old material over and over. When The Mad Hatter dances at the end, I couldn’t, for the life of me, get Michael Keaton’s performance as Beetlejuice out of my head. I also think Burton regular Winona Ryder might have been a better White Queen than Anne Hathaway, whose purity and the way she carried herself never seemed right to me. The movie is also a little too violent for the kids, the aforementioned scene with the severed heads very disturbing. At the end of the day it is another Tim Burton creation, not one of his best but serviceable.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]