Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton, 2010): USA

Reviewed by Byron Potau. Viewed at Camino Real Cinemas, Goleta, Ca.

Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton has been making a habit of making inferior remakes of films, those being Planet of the Apes and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so it comes as no surprise that his new Alice in Wonderland fails to measure up to the book, the Disney version, and fans expectations. What is surprising is how truly bad the film is. This isn’t just mediocre film, or a mere failed attempt. This is an embarrassment, and as a longtime fan of Tim Burton I am really disappointed.

The film is actually a sequel to Alice’s first adventure, taking place several years later when she is a young woman. The white rabbit lures Alice (Mia Wasikowska) back to Wonderland so she can slay the Jabberwocky which the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has used to suppress her sister the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and all of Wonderland because of her insecurities about having an abnormally big head. Alice is convinced her adventure is just a dream and the familiar characters of Wonderland work to keep her from being captured while trying to convince her that she is the right Alice they have been looking for.

Never say never, but it is dangerous to mess with a classic and if you’re going to do it you better have a good plan. Linda Woolverton’s meandering screenplay has the feeling of being stuck in the mud. The wheels keep spinning, but we go nowhere. In trying to write a sequel to Alice’s first adventure she makes overuse of the characters from her original adventure. Where they were delightful, wondrous creations that we couldn’t get enough of in the original they are tired and familiar this time and quickly wear out their welcome. What works in Lewis Carroll’s book is that Alice has one odd encounter after another, but they don’t repeat themselves. Here all the same characters keep showing up and we are quickly bored with them, no one more so than the Mad Hatter who suddenly becomes more of a knight in shining armor and potential love interest to Alice than the delirious old hatter you’ll associate with the original. There is very little that is new about Alice’s second adventure and that which is seems dull and ordinary. It is not just characters that repeat themselves, but situations, especially the Alice gets big, Alice gets small routine which plays out through the entire film. It gets old quick.

Burton’s reimagining of Carroll’s characters also, for the most part, does not work. The creepy Pugsley Adams like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and the Mad Hatter are the worst of it, but looking at the Red Queen’s big head which looks like it is reflected in a doorknob seems too gimmicky looking and kind of gets on your nerves after awhile. The door mouse (voiced by Barbara Windsor) is actually a nice surprise as a feisty, high spirited swordswoman ready for a fight despite her small size. It’s one of the very few things to work in this film. With so little to work with in these characters it is no surprise that most of the acting is off target, especially Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter which is all over the place emotionally, but in a bad way.

The story is incredibly predictable and short on ideas. Of course Alice finally becomes the Alice they all think she is. Of course she agrees to slay the Jabberwocky. We know this because they keep telling us over and over again that this is what must happen so we know that it will, but we still have to wait an hour and forty eight minutes for it all to play out. This all leads to the Mad Hatter’s celebration dance, easily the worst moment in the film. No other moment will make you feel more ashamed as you realize you actually paid to see this.

You would at least expect the film to be visually stunning, and it does looks good, but doesn’t wow you the way you might expect. The 3D once again fails to captivate and adds nothing to the film becoming more distracting than anything. Furthermore, whenever there is movement the image blurs and the film is somewhat disorienting. Maybe this failing is because the film is really a 2D film and was converted to 3D as an afterthought to cash in on the 3D craze going on. However, I have to reiterate an earlier prediction of mine that this is just a fad that will soon pass and not the future of cinema as James Cameron professes. We shall see.

About this entry

You’re currently reading “Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton, 2010): USA,” an entry on Student Film Reviews

Published:
03.16.10 / 6pm
Category:
Films