Alice in Wonderland

After the monster success of Avatar, the next big film in the move to popularize 3D has come in the new Disney film, directed by Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland. This film is not really based directly on the Alice in Wonderland book, written by Lewis Carroll. Burton instead makes the film kind of a loose sequel, while being an introductory film to Wonderland.

Alice is now 20. She keeps having dreams of a strange world with odd looking creatures, and these visions distract her from her real life, which she finds moving to fast for her own good. Amidst being asked for her hand in marriage, Alice decides to take a walk, and follows a white rabbit. She finds herself in a strange, yet somehow familiar place. The creatures of Wonderland need Alice’s help in taking down the Red Queen from her throne of Wonderland, but before she can, she must rediscover who she really is and figure out if this is some kind of weird dream, or is this place real and why it is so familiar.

Unlike Avatar, Alice in Wonderland was not filmed with 3D cameras, but was converted for 3D. Most of the 3D in this film is things flying at your face, and with Burton’s penchant for atmosphere, this does make for a beautiful looking film. All the set pieces in Wonderland are very creative in design, from the Hatter’s gloomy looking tea party table to the White Queen’s beautiful castle. The atmosphere is lovely on the eyes. I also loved the designs of the Wonderland creatures. The Cheshire Cat looks fantastic, as does the Jabberwhocky, as does the Caterpillar, and so on. Great looking film

As far as acting goes, I want to start by saying the supporting cast are great in their essentially voice acting roles, for the most part. I especially loved Stephen Frey as the Cheshire Cat. Johnny Depp is good as the Mad Hatter, but we’ve seen him play this role before. This is nothing new for the audience. Helena Bonham Carter was entertaining as the bitter and insecure Red Queen. Her childish temper made for some humorous scenes. Anne Hathaway was good as the White Queen, but the role is not spectacular. But, I want to focus on the central character of the film, Alice. Actress Mia Wasikowska doesn’t light up the screen as Alice. The character comes off as bland, and she has limited emotional range. In a world of the fantastic and odd, Alice is boring. She is a bland protagonist, and it is hard to care about her. The writing may have something to do with that, but the performance is noticeably weak.

The story for the film is also not spectacular. The exposition of the film is very brief, and the film rushes Alice into Wonderland. You can’t care about Alice enough before she goes on her journey. Same goes for the resolution. When Alice is in Wonderland, the film is great. The story is nothing new, a character is the chosen one to save a people under tyranny. We’ve seen it many times over. But, the plot is not where Burton attempted to make the film shine. Definitely more thought was put into the Wonderland designs than the script itself. It does make the film pretty, but the lack of plot makes the film not achieve anything more than that.

I am a huge fan of Tim Burton. He is one of my favorite directors. But, Alice in Wonderland is far from his best effort. The film is very much style over substance and is entertaining, yet forgettable. It is worth a theatrical viewing in 3D just for the visuals. It is a good movie, just not a great one.

I give Alice in Wonderland – 3/5