Tim Burton once again treads on sacred fantasy ground in Alice in Wonderland, a twisted take on Lewis Carrollâs classic novels. How far down the rabbit hole does Burton go?
Alice in Wonderland is a new movie from Tim Burton based on a classic work of literary fantasy, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, not to be confused with most of Burtonâs other films. Rather than creating a film based directly off Lewis Carrollâs famous works, Aliceâs Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Burton has opted to tell his own story, using Carrollâs iconic characters and unique fantasy setting. Is that a wise idea?
Weâve seen the concept done right before, most famously in America McGeeâs Alice. McGeeâs vision of an older Alice, driven mad by survivorâs guilt, returning to a Wonderland transformed by her own madness, was as disturbing as it was poignant, while building off Carrollâs original work in a way that made sense in the grand scheme of things.
Burtonâs new movie features a 19 year-old Alice whoâs forgotten all about the Wonderland (or Underland, as Burton rechristens it) of her childhood, preparing for her engagement to a wealthy young lord. Panicking at the moment of truth, Alice flees into the woods, falls down a rabbit hole, and finds herself in a strange world that remembers her, even if she doesnât remember it. A prophetic scroll reveals that Alice is fated to become the savior of Underland, slaying a terrible beast of legend and freeing the land of the Red Queenâs tyranny.
Itâs about this time that Lewis Carroll fans begin to feel desperately ill, and I donât want to be responsible for any violent heaving due to continuing on with the plot synopsis. Letâs just get straight to the review instead.
Loved
Bizarre Landscapes: Visually, Wonderland, or Underland, as itâs called in the movie, is a real treat. The bizarre landscapes that Alice and her odd companions wander through are unique and appealing, even if Burton couldnât resist including a few spirals and topiary animal sculptures. Itâs his thing, you know. I expected much worse, only to be delighted that Burton has either mellowed a bit with age or someone reined him in before he made this world into A Nightmare Before Wonderland. Sorry, Underland.
Talking With The Animals: Due to some of the issues I had with the âhumanâ actors in the movie, many of my favorite scenes involved the various CGI animals populating Underland. The worrisome White Rabbit, maniacally Scottish March Hare, and standoffish Dormouse stole many a scene, while Alan Rickmanâs voice lent weight to the cryptic words of the hookah smoking Caterpillar. Trumping all of them, however, was comedian Stephen Fryâs turn as the Cheshire Cat, managing to win my heart despite looking like a cross between the live-action Garfield and Nightcrawler from the X-Men movies.
Another Score For Danny Elfman: Iâve been a big fan of Danny Elfmanâs movie music since the original Batman films, though I, like many others, have felt his work with Burton was getting a bit too formulaic. While he does explore some familiar territory with the Alice score (a womenâs chorus lala-ing is one of Elfmanâs trademarks), he seems to have matured somewhat, creating a sweeping fantasy score that is just as important (or possibly more so) to the film than the plot or the actors.
Hated
Through The Looking Glass Darkly: This is not Lewis Carrollâs Wonderland. Hell, this isnât even Disneyâs Wonderland. Rather than the fine episodic tales presented in the original works, or the woefully inaccurate yet appealing animated movie, this is a story of a young woman learning to make her own way in the world, not living life to please others, using Wonderland as a backdrop. Burton takes elements from Carrollâs works, tosses them in a blender, and pours them out into a mold more fitting his vision as a director and storyteller. Unfortunately itâs a mold heâs used far too often, and the ingredients he adds to help make the story his own â his wife, the Mad Hatterâs origin story, and renaming Wonderland to Underland â feel forced rather than natural.
I wonât even get into the plot revolving around Alice being the chosen one who must defeat the Jabberwocky on the Frabjous Day with the Vorpal sword. My head will explode.
Itâs a generic fantasy film that Burton is trying to liven up by including well-known characters from a beloved franchise. Itâs the movie equivalent of Sonic & The Black Knight.
What Big Eyes You Have: How was the acting in Alice in Wonderland? Itâs hard to say, mainly because 80% of the human characters in the film have been twisted into hideous mockeries of real people, thanks to the magic of truly awful computer effects. Helena Bonham Carterâs oversized head is the most distracting thing since Helena Bonham Carterâs actual head. Theyâve taken Crispin Glover, already a wiry sort of fellow, and stretched him to ridiculous proportions, and sat him upon a CGI horse with a bad frame rate. I have no idea what they did to Johnny Deppâs eyes, but it makes him painful to watch, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum, both portrayed by Matt Lucas, just seem wrong. Thatâs the only word I can come up with. Wrong.
Not only do these CGI distortions make these bizarre characters nearly unwatchable, their outrageouseness completely overshadows Mia Wasikowskaâs already understated performance as Alice. Then again, considering most of the marketing material for the movie features the Mad Hatter instead of the titular heroine, maybe that was the point all along.
Useless 3D: Alice in Wonderland doesnât seem to be a movie that was made with 3D in mind, yet most of the theaters showing it in my area force you to don a pair of plastic 3D glasses to watch the film. Watching a movie with glasses on top of my regular vision correction lenses is uncomfortable enough, but when the payoff is this minimal, itâs hardly worth the effort. Aside from a few bits of scenery and some background creatures flying towards the screen, most of the 3D effects in the movie are simple depth perception tricks. In fact, it almost feels like some of the 3D elements were added after the fact, without any real thought as to how they would affect the film, such as branches in the foreground as characters travel through the forest, obscuring your view of the action, as it were. If you wind up seeing the 2D version of the movie, donât worry â youâre not missing anything.
Of all the variations on the Alice in Wonderland story Iâve seen over the years, Tim Burtonâs Alice in Wonderland is by far the loosest interpretation of the source material, if you could even call it an interpretation. Burton has said that he never connected emotionally with the original story of Alice, and wanted to make his movie feel more like a story rather than a series of character meetings. This isnât a sequel to the original Alice, or even a re-imagining.
Instead, Burton treats the original story like so much wrapping paper, using the familiar characters and concepts to tell the story he wanted to tell, about a woman triumphing over societies preconceived notions of who and what she should be, by traveling to a fantasy world and becoming exactly what this other society expects her to be. Burtonâs twisted sense of art design may have mellowed over the years, but itâs been replaced with a twisted sense of plot, resulting in a tangled mess of a movie hanging onto Carrollâs work like a drowning man clinging to a piece of driftwood.
Alice in Wonderland was directed by Tim Burton, released on March 5th by Walt Disney Pictures.
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