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It’s fair to say that there are few stories out there as eccentric, imaginative and downright weird as that of the little girl who falls down the rabbit hole. Depite it’s age, Alice in Wonderland is a tale that has constantly been reinvented and reinterpreted by film directors pretty much since the birth of the medium itself (for those interested in a rundown check out March’s edition of Sight&Sound). Like most people in their 20s I grew up with the Disney version, which I loved but was always more than a little freaked out by. Even Disney’s fluffy dreamworld couldn’t stop me being scared witless at the prospect of losing my mind and slipping into insanity like the Mad Hatter or the unhinged Alice. Tim Burton then seemed to be the perfect choice of director to bring out the darkness in the story via his trademark goth-lite style.

It’s a shame then that Burton’s film is a bit of a disappointment. I went to see it in 3D and, while I know I’m probably prone to use Avatar as a benchmark, I felt the visuals just didn’t cut it. I really wish Burton had stuck with using stop-motion animation with Alice in Wonderland; the whole film would’ve had a much more macabre feel to it. As it is I felt that it uncomfortably straddled the fence between gothic and Disney. As this was Burton’s first time directing an entire film with green screen I guess we can cut him some slack. I also read somewhere that he was finding it difficult to work in this medium, which hopefully means he’ll go back to using stop-motion in future films. Burton’s story is also very different to the original and it seemed like parts of the film were needlessly long in order to compensate for some of these changes.

In terms of casting I think Burton was spot-on. Predictably, Johnny Depp was right at home in the role of the Mad Hatter and brought his own brand of whimsy to the role. Slipping into a Scottish accent throughout the film, however, was a bit of a weird addition to the character. And the dance at the end… I mean, what can I say about that? I don’t think it quite worked. Similarly, Mia Wasikowska brought a freshness to the role of Alice. It was interesting to see her portrayed as a young woman rather than a child, and I think it worked well to have her using Wonderland as an escape from her approaching adulthood and the responsibility (and restriction – this film is set in the Victorian era) that comes with that for a woman. I like the fact that Alice was a bit of a free-spirited tomboy, it made her really likable. Helena Bonham Carter was also great as the despotic Red Queen and gave some nice touches to the role. The supporting cast was strong too; Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman added their usual drawling wit to the Cheshire Cat and the Blue Caterpillar, and Anne Hathaway played the White Queen well.

Despite the cast however, I just felt that this was a film that could’ve been much more. For a 3D film made by one of the most creative directors around the landscape of Wonderland was surprisingly dull, lacking the colour and surrealism that makes the story so memorable. I can’t help but think that working with green screen technology was a big mistake for Burton and one that cost him dearly.

Title: Alice In Wonderland
Year: 2010
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy
Director: Tim Burton
Writers: Linda Woolverton, Lewis Carroll
Cast:
Mia Wasikowska
Johnny Depp
Helena Bonham Carter
Anne Hathaway
Crispin Glover
Matt Lucas
Alan Rickman
Stephen Fry
Michael Sheen
Timothy Spall
Barbara Windsor
Marton Csokas
Lindsay Duncan
Frances de la Tour
Leo Bill
Tim Pigott-Smith
Geraldine James
Christopher Lee
Rating: 6/10

Tim Burton is a dignitary among contemporary directors, but I have never been his devoted fan, my favorite Burton’s film is Edward Scissorhands (1990) (Sleepy Hollow comes next). Also I have a little grudge over his last film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), as I find it meaningless besides its theatrical performances and gloomy settings or maybe I am just simply fed up with Gothicism.

Frankly speaking, this film is onky a mediocre work from Burton, the imaginary wonderland is Burtonesque but the story is witless, which evolves in a quite prosaic way without highlights or excitements. However the fun is still achievable especially I think the newcomer Mia Wasikowska’s novelty is pervasive all over the film, which is adorable and eliminates lots of sleepiness. Helena Bonham Carter as the evil Red Queen and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen are both skin-deep characters but fully bring forth the vividness. Johnny Depp is as crazy as usual as the mad hatter, but not particularly remarkable. Surprisingly I am very much impressed by the voice of Alan Rickman as Absolem, the mighty caterpillar, which is truly mesmerizing.

This 3D feature won a huge success in the worldwide box office (collected more than 1 billion US dollars) as it followed the 3D upsurge just after Avatar earlier this year, however I become somewhat worried about Burton’s next project as it seems that his fame is forestalling his talent to reach his maximal level, owing to a fact that Burton has never been nominated as Best Director in Oscars, which might hint us that in some level Tim Burton and Michael Bay belong to the same category, more like a skillful film craftsman than a genuine auteur.

I thought it was alright. I think I understand what Burton is attempting to do here. The stories by Lewis Carrol were not plot-driven and were basically just a series of events and shit happening that have no connection to anything and lack cohesive points. Tim Burton appears to be trying to take all these events and add a storyline to them. It works until the last act of the film when it basically, more or less, becomes an action film. The CGI here is pretty abundant, but a lot of it works. My favorite character is the Cheshire Cat. He feels like the most relate-able and sensible character. He is in this chaotic world, and instead of letting himself get overcome by the insanity of it he chooses to just have fun and be happy and I think that’s an admirable trait. Helena Bonham Carter steals the show here as the Red Queen, despite the fact that her character appears more based on the Queen of Hearts, and delivers the best and most engaging performance as well as the funniest and most lively. Johnny Depp is also very amusing as the Mad Hatter, although that dance that he did really sucked. Alan Rickman plays the smoking caterpillar as well as he can, though he isn’t given enough to do. The rabbits, the mouse, the dog, the jabberwocky, and the Bandersnatch were all wonderful. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum sucked. They weren’t visually interesting and they are basically in the film to be stupid and annoying. I didn’t like them at all. They really took away a lot from the film. At least in the Disney version they were fun to look at and had a lot of color and life to them. Here, they feel like they belong in some underground no-budget British play or something. Anne Hathaway was boring and lifeless and plays some chick who has snowflakes on her boobs for some reason. Last but not least is Mia Wasikowska’s performance as Alice. She does an okay job. Tim Burton’s approach to Alice is a lot different here. In most adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, Alice is very polite, astute, simpleminded, naive, and gentle-natured. Here, she’s very boyish. She acts surprisingly improper and crass and she seemed more curious, fierce, instinctive, and self-aware rather than scared like she normally is. Rather than going with the flow, this Alice thinks more for herself and catches on to shit quick. I’m not sure which version of Alice I prefer, but this one was certainly unique and a nice little experiment. I don’t see many children or adults being able to relate to her much, but whatever. It’s no big deal. Her best scenes are the framing scenes at the beginning and the end, the scenes that don’t take place in Wonderland. Overall it’s worth seeing, but I have some problems with it. If you’re a fan of the Lewis Carrol story, it’s worth a watch.

Burton’s Alice is not the grusome garbage some says it is, but it’s definitely not a good film – I’ll say it’s mediocre.

The prolouge is great. The first half of the film in general is good. The visuals are sometimes inventive and beautiful, some times ugly (very, often insanely bad CGI-work!!), but the aestethics of the film is neverthenless quite interesting to watch. I other words: I was entertained. And Elfmans music was catchy as hell.

Everything falls together in the second act. No emotion, no interesting characters – nothing of anything! Just a mess. Why? This could have been so much better. I guess we’re all a bit tired of Tim Burton these days, but come on: he is a talented and original filmmaker that has the potential to make great stuff. I lost my interest some time ago, but at least I owe him some respect.

Therefore 2 respectfully strong stars from me to Alice.

BTW: Johnny Depp sucks, Mia Wasikowska was good in a difficult role and quite attractive.

This is not a great film. It offers little that is surprising, interesting or original: its story is simply a melange of Carroll’s ideas attached to a string of lazy movie-making cliches. But it is worthwhile because it is obvious that all the actors and animators had great fun working on this.

And these sad and graphic allegories of Burton raping Lewis Carroll (see other reviews below) are hysterical and uncalled for.

The animation is colorful and often even spellbinding.

The acting is adequate.

Johnny Depp and his cohort Helena are showing off, as is Anne Hathaway to some extent.

The dialogue is awkward but gets better as the movie goes on.

The Cheshire cat remains the most intriguing character in Wonderland, of course.

There are a few funny moments.

It is a only few notches above mediocrity, but in general it is inoffensive and does nothing particularly harmful to the legacy Lewis Carroll left in his stories.

Kooky American filmmaker Tim Burton (“Sweeney Todd” & “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) teams up with Disney hack Linda Woolverton (“The Lion King” & “Beauty and the Beast”) to Burton-up another much loved children’s classic with this curiously confused sequel-cum-reimagining which has become one of the top five highest-grossing films of all time.

A 19-year-old Victorian girl who may or may not be the real Alice flees her surprise engagement to pursue a white rabbit down a hole to the 3D animated world of Underland where she is shrunk, stretched, scratched and stuffed into a teapot before finally discovering the champion within by slaying the Jabberwocky in disappointingly Disneyfied final act.

Up-and-coming Australian starlet Mia Wasikowska (“That Evening Sun” & “Suburban Mayhem”) seems too small or too tall for the role of the displaced debutante and her sudden transformation in time for the final act is as unconvincing as her nonsense relationship with director favourite Johnny Depp, failing to channel the Rab C. Nesbitt, as the Mad Hatter.

Helena Bonham Carter is captivating as the deranged Red Queen at the head of an all star supporting cast which wastes the vocal talents of Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Gough and Christopher Lee as well as flesh-and-bone versions of Crispin Glover and a Nigella Lawson-a-like Anne Hathaway in throwaway roles.

The director’s first film shot against greenscreen certainly looks the part with Dariusz Wolski, Robert Stromberg and Stefan Dechant crafting a Wonderland worthy of the apparently misheard name, with some throwaway 3D elements slapped on afterwards on the misadvice of a now seemingly outmoded Richard D. Zanuck, but looks alone are not enough.

Seemingly dissatisfied with the lack of storyline inherent in the charming nonsense of the great author Lewis Carroll, the production has a not quite so great cartoon screenwriter inject some Hollywood framework of emotional grounding from the likes of “The Wizard of Oz” or “Labyrinth” which results in a tragic loss of muchness sure to leave audiences at a loss.

“You’d think she’d remember all of this from the first time.”

Cerita populer Alice in Wonderland pertama kali diperkenalkan pada dunia dalam bentuk novel oleh novelis asal Inggris, Lewis Carroll, pada tahun 1865. Karya-karya Carroll pada zamannya memang dikenal sangat berani, karena kecenderungan Carroll untuk bermain di dalam kisah fantasi yang seringkali memainkan logika pembacanya, termasuk untuk kisah yang Carroll tulis di Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland (judul asli Alice in Wonderland).

Namun, justru karena permainan fantasi yang dilengkapi dengan karakter-karakter lucu (walaupun seringkali memiliki latar belakang gelap) itulah, karya Carroll menjadi dapat dinikmati oleh seluruh kalangan, baik kalangan anak-anak maupun kalangan dewasa.

Alice in Wonderland sendiri adalah salah satu karya Carroll yang sangat populer di dunia. Begitu populernya, sudah tidak terhitung lagi berapa kali novel ini telah diadaptasi ke berbagai bentuk media. Untuk versi karya Tim Burton ini sendiri, Burton bekerjasama denganWalt Disney Pictures dan memanfaatkan teknologi Disney 3D untuk lebih menghidupkan berbagai karakter dan suasana yang ada di dalam jalan cerita.

Naskah film ini sendiri diadaptasi oleh penulis naskah veteran Walt Disney, Linda Woolverton (yang juga menulis naskah Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King dan Mulan), berdasarkan novel Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, dan novel sekuelnya, Through the Looking-Glass.

Berkisah mengenai Alice Kingsley (Mia Wasikowska) yang di kisah ini diceritakan bukanlah seorang gadis cilik lagi. Namun merupakan seorang gadis remaja berusia 19 tahun yang baru saja ditinggal mati oleh sang ayah. Tanpa menyadari bahwa dirinya dijebak oleh sang ibu, Helen (Lindsay Duncan) dan sang kakak, Margaret Manchester (Jemma Powell), bahwa ia akan dibawa ke sebuah pesta pertunangan dirinya, Alice akhirnya dilamar oleh seorang jutawan, Lord Hamish Ascott (Leo Bill). Alice akhirnya melarikan diri dari pesta pertunangan tersebut. Dalam pelariannya, ia melihat seekor kelinci putih yang memakai jas dan sebuah jam (The White Rabbit – Michael Sheen), dan mengikutinya. Tanpa sadar, Alice terjatuh ke dalam sebuah lubang yang berakhir sebuah tempat bernama Underland (namun lebih populer sebagai Wonderland, bagi para penghuninya).

Ternyata, Alice pernah mengunjungi tempat ini, sepuluh tahun sebelumnya, namun ingatannya akan tempat ini benar-benar sudah hilang. Di Wonderland, ia kembali bertemu dengan The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), yang meminta pertolongannya untuk membantu White Queen (Anna Hathaway) menyingkirkan Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) yang baru saja merebut tahta dari tangan White Queen. Mad Hatter juga memberitahu Alice bahwa hanya dialah yang mampu membunuh The Jabberwock (Christopher Lee), seekor naga milik Red Queen yang menakuti seluruh penduduk Wonderland.

Sebagai seorang sutradara, Tim Burton selama ini memang dikenal sebagai seorang yang ahli dalam menggarap gambar-gambar yang unik dan menakjubkan serta selalu menerapkan beberapa selipan humor yang mungkin akan sedikit terasa aneh bagi beberapa orang. Di lain pihak, Lewis Carroll, lewat karya-karyanya, selalu dikenal sebagai seorang novelis yang mampu menggambarkan suatu daya khayal tingkat tinggi lewat kata-kata yang ia tuliskan. Wajar saja, jika dengan kemampuan yang ditunjukkan Burton selama ini, ia dianggap akan dapat mewujudkan daya khayal Carroll tersebut secara akurat lewat penggunaan teknologi visual tercanggih yang ada saat ini.

Dan harus diakui, Burton berhasil melakukannya. Wonderland di tangan Burton adalah sebuah alam mimpi dimana segala sesuatu hal yang mungkin tidak pernah dibayangkan seseorang dapat terwujud, sama seperti halnya visi Wonderland yang ingin disampaikan oleh Carroll. Tidak seperti ehmmm… Pandora, Wonderland dipenuhi oleh berbagai warna dan diisi oleh banyak karakter unik yang akan semakin membuat para penontonnya jatuh hati pada dunia mimpi ini.

Pemanfaatan teknologi 3D sendiri oleh Burton sepertinya hanya menjadi sebuah gimmick di film ini. Beberapa adegan memang sangat terbantu oleh teknologi 3D tersebut, namun kebanyakan, pemanfaatan teknologi 3D di Alice in Wonderland tidaklah semaksimal apa yang dilakukan James Cameron lewat Avatar. Secara keseluruhan, teknologi 3D cukup membantu penonton untuk merasakan tingkatan keindahan yang lebih dalam daripada ketika film ini disaksikan dalam bentuk 2D, walau hal tersebut tidaklah begitu mengganggu.

Tidak seperti pencapaian visualnya, karya-karya Tim Burton memang seringkali dipenuhi oleh beberapa titik dimana jalan cerita film-filmnya terasa mengalami sedikit perpanjangan tanpa memberikan sesuatu yang berarti. Hal ini tidak terkecuali pada apa yang terjadi di Alice in Wonderland. Jalan cerita film ini berjalan cukup memikat semenjak film ini mulai berputar. Ditambah dengan iringan musik karya Danny Elfman, penonton akan dapat begitu menikmati jalan cerita dan ketegangan awal yang ditawarkan. Namun, ketika Alice mulai menjelajahi Wonderland, disitu pula tempo film ini sepertinya berjalan di tempat, terasa kekurangan konflik serta hanya berputar-putar di permasalahan yang sama. Untungnya, naskah cerita kemudian berjalan lagi seiring konflik akhir ketika White Queen akan segera berhadapan dengan Red Queen mulai bergulir.

Walau begitu, Burton beruntung ia memiliki bakat dalam memilih jajaran talenta yang pas untuk menghidupkan filmnya. Dipenuhi dengan nama-nama yang telah dikenal memiliki kualitas akting tingkat atas, para jajaran pemeran Alice in Wonderland berhasil menghidupkan setiap karakter unik yang ada di dalam jalan cerita secara komikal. Helena Bonham Carter akan membuat setiap orang terpukau dengan caranya menginterprestasi Red Queen dengan teriakan-teriakan khasnya. Anne Hathaway juga melakukan suatu hal yang unik lewat caranya menggambarkan White Queen: seorang wanita cantik dan jelita seperti yang ia pernah gambarkan di The Devil Wears Prada namun memiliki kepribadian gelap seperti yang pernah ia gambarkan di Rachel Getting Married. Johnny Depp, seperti biasa, akan selalu mampu menangani karakter komikal seperti The Mad Hatter. Aktris Mia Wasikowska, yang berperan sebagai Alice dan memiliki jam terbang lebih rendah daripada aktor dan aktris senior lainnya, ternyata juga mampu memberikan padanan akting yang sesuai dan tidak mengecewakan. Pemeran pendukung lainnya, yang kebanyakan hanya menampilkan talenta suara mereka, juga mendukung agar film ini menjadi sangat dapat dinikmati dan menghibur.

Mungkin, tidak akan ada seorangpun di dunia ini yang akan mampu mambawa visi Lewis Carroll lewat cerita Alice in Wonderland secara keseluruhan. Ketika beberapa orang sutradara mencoba menyerap penuh cerita yang diberikan, mereka sepertinya terhalang akan visualisasinya. Ketika mencoba menampilkan visualisasi yang berlebih, sisi cerita malah sedikit kedodoran. Dan apa yang telah diberikan Burton, walau terasa sedikit lemah di naskah cerita, namun secara keseluruhan Burton berhasil membuat Alice in Wonderland sebagai sebuah film yang sangat menghibur. Tidak hanya dari sisi visual, namun juga dari penampilan para pemerannya.

Rating: 4 / 5

Je n’ai jamais été fan de Tim Burton : ces formidables délires graphiques n’ont jamais (à mon goût) réussi à compenser sa froideur formelle et les faiblesses de ses scénarii. Alice ne déroge pas à la règle. Burton est décidément un très bon graphiste, mais un piètre conteur d’histoire. Des subtils délires d’Alice il fabrique une soupe bien pensante, qui ressemble à un vulgaire épisode de Narnia, plaque une psychologie à deux balles pour expliquer ce qui n’était pas expliqué dans l’Alice originel… Les “améliorations” qu’il apporte n’amènent décidément rien à l’histoire : son chapelier est fade, sa reine de coeur trop décodée, son Alice n’a pas gagné à grandir…

With a knack for creating imaginative worlds that can be both dark and colorful simultaneously, director Tim Burton seems like a natural fit to adapt the Wonderland of Lewis Carroll’s novels. However, for every inventive Big Fish or Edward Scissorhands, there are the atrocious re-envisionings of Planet of the Apes and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So, let’s just say I was scared going into Alice in Wonderland because, while the setting and art direction seemed perfect, I couldn’t help but remember how bad his work from pre-existing films is. I want to give him credit for deciding to create a sequel rather than a unique version of material that is already so ingrained in the mind of every person who has seen the Disney animated original, but I think he could have gone further. It is set up perfectly with its ‘thirteen years later’ and discovery of 19-year old Alice’s engagement party, yet as soon as she goes down the rabbit hole, you can’t help wonder if you’ve seen it all before.

And this is my main issue with the film, even though it is conscious of the shortcoming itself. Alice arrives in Underland, (the name Wonderland, we discover, is a mishearing of the actual world’s name from her first visit), and she is in the room we recall so well. The only way out is a teeny-tiny door and the only way to fit is to drink the potion conveniently on the sole piece of furniture, a glass-topped table. As soon as Mia Wasikowska—who is very endearing as Alice, playing her with an edge of ego and confidence, while retaining the innocence one needs to create a world such as this—puts the key on the table, I felt like hitting my head, confused why everything was happening as it once did. But then we hear voices outside the door, voices that ask, “Why doesn’t she remember all this from before?” It is both an effective query, making everything fair game since she has forgotten her initial visit, and a convenient one because it allows the filmmakers to be lazy and repetitive with an out as to why. At least it gave me a reason to sit back and watch without too much disdain, even though I would rather Burton have just done a strict remake than be all schizophrenic by trying to be like the original and then two seconds later attempt to be different.

Alice has entered this world because she doesn’t know whether to do as everyone wants and marry a Lord she does not love, or if she should defy them and say no, risking the possibility of becoming like her spinster Aunt Imogene. The fantasy is then her escape to discover if she has the mettle to become her own woman, a champion of her own life. In Wonderland, her mirrored test is finding a way to become the great Jabberwocky slayer that destiny has foretold. The White Rabbit searched everywhere for the Alice who followed him so many years ago to be the White Queen’s champion and reclaim her throne from her sister, the insanely big-headed Red Queen. Alice doesn’t believe she has the ability to slay anything, even if she wanted to, but as her adventures continues, as she slowly rekindles the friendships from her childhood, she discovers that she would do anything for these eccentrics—the one family that has always believed in her; something that has been rare ever since her father passed away. So, the journey begins, characters are on warring sides, kidnappings run rampant, and the only one who can stop it needs to become the hero they all see her as.

If Burton has done one thing exceptionally well, it is the wondrous art direction on display. Seeing it all in fully computer-generated splendor is astonishing; all those aspects from the two-dimensional cartoon have come to life. My screening was not in 3D, but I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing as I could still see the multiple instances of things coming towards me in the foreground. Whether it be the Knave’s pointing finger, a floating butterfly, or the Mad Hatter tossing scrolls into the theatre, it appeared the 3D was only utilized for gimmicky purposes rather than adding depth to the reality. And, honestly, if it wasn’t the James Cameron version of the technology, I’d almost rather not be bothered with the motion-blurring and small depth of focus. Also, by being a regular movie, I was able to treat it more as a lush painting—something that I think lends itself well to the story. All the characters have been Burton-ified, still retaining the traits that make them what they are, but slightly skewed to the oddly demented for a bit of fresh air. The Tweedles and a lot of fun, the March Hare looks as if he is rabid, and the Cheshire Cat is a miraculously gorgeous piece of animation. And the landscapes are memorable as well, especially the chessboard aesthetic of the White Queen’s castle.

As for the acting, it is all very over-the-top, both in good and bad ways. Anne Hathaway is almost too hammy with her White Queen, and yet I didn’t have a problem because she played it so broad that it became funny. On the opposite end of that spectrum is Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter; so eccentric for eccentricity’s sake, I got bored with him. With the creepily large and cartoony eyes, his performance was par for the course of late, becoming this odd creature in a way that you have to wonder if it can be called acting anymore, or just plain entertaining without rhyme or reason. The guy needs a real role again, and quick. His old Dead Man co-star, however, Crispin Glover, is always a treat to see since he so rarely works. He does the evil Knave of Hearts justice, always out for himself and playing everyone around him in order to stay close to whomever has the power. His character was very odd visually, though, almost as if he were half animated and half real with awkward, choppy movement that made him appear robotic. And last but not least is Helena Bonham Carter, who truly steals the show as the Red Queen. The performance is perfect in attitude, look, and tone. She was born to play this role.

I did enjoy my time in this new Wonderland, but unfortunately couldn’t separate it from my loving memories of the Disney original. Even Alan Rickman’s caterpillar’s “Who are you?” was unable to be stand by itself because it was so different from my childhood memories that it couldn’t be anything but wrong. I do think the trouble lies in Burton’s waffling over whether to make it a remake or a sequel, never letting me understand his motivations and take it as one or the other. As a remake it fails in not adding enough new things creatively to make the endeavor relevant and as a sequel it fails by rehashing too much from the first. I actually couldn’t help but also see a lot of similarities to another fantasy world—Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. I got lost in the comparison so deeply that, towards the end, when you have the requisite frame of all Alice’s make-believe friends readying to say goodbye—a scene in every film of this ilk straight down to The Wizard of Oz—I was waiting for the Dormouse or someone to say Sir Didymus’s famous line, “Well, should you needs us, for anything at all”. But alas, it was not to be. Instead we get the same ending as before, only with everyone thirteen years older.

Alice in Wonderland 6/10

http://jaredmobarakreviews.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/alice-in-wonderland/

I’m weary of Tim Burton’s shtick, it feels like he is now cherry picking beloved properties that he can plug his (tired) trademark style into, resulting in films that feel phoned-in. When I heard Burton was doing ALICE IN WONDERLAND, it felt like a predictable decision from an artist who was once cutting-edge who is now simply going through the motions. The casting of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in kooky roles is S.O.P., a fine talent like Depp is another artist guilty of doing the same ol’ same ol’ as well. What I didn’t expect was this movie to be a HOOK-like sequel to Lewis Carroll’s stories, but don’t chalk this up to artistic inspiration, all the filmmakers did was plug your standard “chosen-one” fantasy plot line into Carroll’s universe, making this movie even more tiresome. That’s not to say ALICE IN WONDERLAND is a terrible movie, it’s watchable fare, but there are no surprises here, from Burton, fans of Carroll, or otherwise.

One thing I distinctly remember from ALICE IN WONDERLAND is the character of the Cheshire Cat, and how he represented an embodiment of chaos and mischief. Whenever he showed up, you weren’t sure if he was going help Alice, or get her into worse trouble, making him a character that kept you on your toes. While I enjoyed the Cheshire Cat’s grinning visage in this film, as well as Stephen Fry’s line deliveries, I felt the character of the Cat was missing. Here, the Cheshire Cat is simply an ally to Alice and her friends, one you can trust all the way, essentially sucking out the essence of the Cat’s character. Another problem this movie encounters is how Alice transforms from a befuddled protagonist into a female John McClane with a sword, it feels like transformation that occurs because the script requires it to. To his credit, Burton & co. make a valid attempt to sell us on this, but it doesn’t take. By the end of the climax, Alice even gets an action movie one-liner, she might as well be saying “Yippee-ki-yay motherfucker!” By the end the movie wraps up its loose ends in a checklist scene so on-the-nose and uninspired, it almost makes you forget anything you liked about the movie when you walk out of the theater.

I’m not sure what to think of Johnny Depp’s performance as the Mad Hatter here, he constantly wavers between a Scottish and soft-English accent that takes some getting used to, but it’s an interesting idea (he is “mad” after all). While I was mixed on Depp, I thought Helena Bonham Carter did a fine job as the bulb-headed Red Queen. Mia Wasikowska plays Alice, and while she I didn’t dislike her, she seemed a little bland for a protagonist I’m supposed to care about. Most of the cast is what makes the movie watchable though, despite my protests. Burton die-hards will no doubt be pleased by this movie, but I can’t imagine fans of Carroll getting anything out of this. ALICE IN WONDERLAND is just paint-by-numbers fantasy via a Lewis Carroll property at the end of the day, watchable but forgettable.