Title: Alice in Wonderland
Studio: Walt Disney
Director: Tim Burton
Actors: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover
As predictable as the making of another Saw movie, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have collaborated on yet another project, this time taking the form of Alice in Wonderland. The film, seemingly a classic story that Burton (in all his dark and eccentric glory) was meant to tell, has been eagerly anticipated by fans of Burton and Alice alike since the first whispers of its production. Now, with the release date upon us, we can finally know: was the wait worth it?
The answer: a resounding ‘meh’.
First, a little plot summarizing. Taking place years after the first trip to Wonderland, the story picks up with Alice, now twenty, being pressured into marrying a man she doesn’t care for (and honestly, after ten seconds with this guy, no one could blame her). Freaking out from a public proposal, Alice runs away from the crowd and stumbles onto the famous rabbit hole, only to tumble down once more. Once in Wonderland, (or “Underland” as it’s apparently, actually called), Alice relives familiar adventures, combating the Red Queen and the Jabberwocky, and meeting up with classic characters along the way.
Back to the ‘meh’. Burton’s Alice in Wonderland seemed to have the key ingredients to a great film – he signed up two of his favourite muses (Depp and Helena Bonham Carter), brought his characteristic, creepy artistry to the table, and had the backing of Disney for the financial and promotional aspects. So with all this going for Burton, why did this movie fail to become the excellence many were expecting it to be?
Unfortunately, there were some big flaws that were hard to ignore. For one, the first half of the movie is pretty disjointed, even for Alice in Wonderland. The classic story has always had a sense of randomness to it, but there was always a feeling of it leading to something. The first half of Burton’s movie has slight allusions to where it’s going, but for the most part, it’s simply a bunch of random scenes stitched together under the guise of presenting a whimsical fantasy world.
Secondly, there was relatively little charm in any of the characters. Depp does the best he can with the gibberish he’s been given, but barely a character comes off as likeable throughout the whole adventure. The main exception is the Cheshire Cat, who remains charismatic throughout, particularly with his insistence that people need to work on their evaporating skills.
Finally, the 3D effects resembled more of a pop-up book than the full, 3D emersion audiences have been spoiled with as of late. You have to hand it to James Cameron: as much as Avatar was a piece of plotless monkey-scrawling, it was a visual masterpiece. Going to conventional 3D movies now feels like slumming, and effects that were once incredibly impressive, now simply makes one yearn for adventures with hot, blue, cat-smurfs. So, if you’re planning on venturing to Wonderland, you may want to consider saving a few dollars and just watching the standard theatre version.
But despite the flaws, the film wasn’t completely unenjoyable and once the second half of the movie began, the plotline really gained traction. There are also a few fun moments, and the story is familiar enough that nostalgia and special effects might just be able to fill up theatre seats – at least for a while.
All in all, this movie didn’t live up to its potential, but wasn’t completely joyless either. Fans of the original will no doubt walk away entertained, and sometimes, that’s enough.
