Alice in Wonderland review

Hello I'm Volts48 and, whether you like it or not, I'm your critic.

Ah, Tim Burton, the moment you even mention his name, your mind will shift back into a whirlwind of nostalgia and surrealism. For his comedies, we have "Pee Wee's Big Adventure", "Mars Attacks", and "Big Fish"; for his animation films, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "9" and "Corpse Bride"; for his comic adaptations, "Batman" and "Batman Returns" and for his infamous dark and surreal films; "Beetle Juice", "Edward Scissorhands", and "Sweeney Todd: the Demon barber of Fleet Street." But he also has his remakes, which have been praised and also despised by many "Sleepy Hollow", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and "Planet of the Apes." But, like James Cameron, Tim Burton has made a film that uses the new and recent technology to his advantage to totally take an original idea and make a vast and expansive film, but unlike James Cameron who refuses to acknowledge that he took a story element that has already been used before, Tim Burton makes something that he acknowledges is not his original idea and that he adapted it. After all, the title itself gives itself away; this is "Alice in Wonderland"
IN IMAX 3D

Alice Kingsley (Mia Wasikowska) is now 19 years old (13 years after her first experience in Wonderland, now called Underland) she is being engaged to some ugly count. Seeing a familiar white rabbit in a blue overcoat, she chases after it and falls down a rabbit hole. After some shenanigans, she meets the White Rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen), Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (Voiced and performed by Matt Lucas), the Dodo (voiced by Michael Gough), and the Dormouse (voiced by Barbara Windsor). They take her to meet the hookah-smoking Blue Caterpillar (voiced by Alan Rickman) who tells them that she's not the right Alice, then a giant Vandersnatch bursts in along with some red playing cards in armor. As Alice continues walking along, thinking it's a dream, she runs into the Cheshire Cat (voiced by Stephen Fry), who leads her to some familiar faces, The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and the March Hare (Paul Whitehouse) who inform her that during Alice's absence, the Red Queen of Hearts (played by Helena Bonham Carter) has taken over Underland with the use of her Jub Jub Bird and Jabberwocky (voiced very briefly by Christopher Lee). So, the only way to save Underland is for Alice to remember who she is and to join up with the White Queen (played by Anne Hathaway) and defeat the Red Queen once and for all. All before tea time…

Well, it comes to no surprise that this would be too perfect for Tim Burton to do. I myself have read Lewis Carroll Anderson's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" but I read it so long ago I don't recall it and I also never read "Through the Looking Glass" but from what I have discussed with other readers, is that this movie, in its own way, follows Lewis Carroll's books in its own way that just takes the literary nonsense and transcribes it that in Tim Burton's liking. But a lot had to be excluded to fit the time limit, the dialogue and lines from the novels were barely mentioned, if I be mistaken then, none at all, for example, the infamous "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" question pops up constantly by the Mad Hatter for little to no reason and well-loved poems are abandoned for this film, like "The Walrus and the Carpenter", "The Little Crocodile" and "Old Father William" are excluded. That also includes the line by the Cheshire Cat as he tells Alice "Everybody here is mad, I'm mad, even you're mad" indicating him to be the most sane character in the novel. Yet here, the Knave of Hearts (played by Crispin Glover) says to the Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse "you're all mad", confusing me whether he was just as equally mad or they were madder than everyone else. Ugh, this is giving me a headache, so I'll shut up about the literary right now…

The acting is all right but the real strength comes from the voice acting from great Shakespearean actors, though they mainly get small roles but hearing them talk was enough to make me melt in my seat. While Mia Wasikowska did a really good job playing Alice here, she was clearly being underplayed compared to Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, who steal the show from the moment they come on the screen. While I like Johnny Depp, I felt that this was not his best role and he looked like a rejected Marilyn Manson wannabe, although he brought a lot of wistfulness to his role, it felt like he was conflicting between Jack Sparrow and the guy from "Finding Neverland" but I digress. Helena Bonham Carter…My God, has her marriage to Tim Burton really been that bad on her? He's had her burned alive and she's put herself in a film series battling a bunch of wizarding teens. Here, it's ridiculous that she let's Tim Burton size her head 3 times its normal size! But don't let that get you down, she plays her role with a very queenly wit and a booming dignified voice as she barks out "Off with his head!" Whenever she walks down a hall, everybody around her is frightened and won't try to revolt for fear that if they manage to stop her card guards, then she'll let loose the Jub Jub Bird on them. The others are also really good in this but clearly Helena Bonham Carter is the one stealing the show here.

The visuals are to die for; I saw this movie in an IMAX theater and despite the horrid traffic and the long lines (My family and I pre-ordered our tickets ahead of time) and the uncomfortable 3D glasses, the glasses really made the flora and fauna of Wonderland look amazing and really beautiful and it felt like I was actually there. Even in a regular theater, I think anyone would still be visibly impressed by the background of Wonderland, and all the CGI is very convincing. It just goes to show that thanks to James Cameron, IMAX is really starting to get the boost they wanted for their new way to see movies and make the audience feel like they were part of the audience. But that still doesn't help that fact that this film really hurt my eyes because I had to keep my eyes open a lot not to miss anything that was happening, even as I'm writing this, my eyes are still feeling sore.

Overall, Tim Burton has brought something that takes Lewis Carroll's writing and manages to make a film that has the overused theme of good prevailing over evil but that's a minor complaint due to my experience in the theater. The film kept me engaged all the way though despite many scenes that felt really slow and that Burton could've done a bit more editing on the editing floor. But, he managed to take the text and take some creative licenses for the characters and creatures of Wonderland, especially for the Card soldiers and for the Jabberwocky fight between it and Alice. If you're still thinking that this film will be too dark and creepy, I say "Well duh! It wouldn't be a Tim Burton film if it wasn't?" but in all seriousness, there are some scenes of violence like when the dormouse takes out the eye of the Vandersnatch and several beheaded heads float in a moat surrounding the Red Queen's castle, but apart from that, don't forget it's a Disney film, Tim Burton can't afford to go all out gory like in "Sweeney Todd" with the Disney executives breathing down his back…

My Rating: A Visually Stunning and Worthwhile Waste of Time

Oh yeah, there is one scene near the end where, for no reason at all, the Mad Hatter starts break dancing…
Yeah…break dancing………this was the 1800s right?

I'm Volts48 and, whether you liked it or not, that's my- (gets pulled out of the room by two cards, a 10 and a 3) Hey! What gives?
(They take me to the Red Queen of Hearts who points a scepter at me)
Red Queen: Off with his head!!!
Me: What I do?!?!
Red Queen: You insulted my large head! Executioner! (Executioner comes in with an ax, the cards hold me down)
Me: NO!!!! NO!!!! I'M VOLTS48! THAT WAS MY REVIEW! HOPE YOU LIKED IT! GOD PLEASE NOOOOOOOOOOO- (ax goes down, all is quiet)