Nicole and I went to check out Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland this past weekend in 3D. It’s a classic of course so I won’t waste time re-capping it here, though I will say that there are plenty of other incarnations you could visit to get re-acquainted and unfortunately, probably should.
The film doesn’t solely follow Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but rather is an amalgamation of that story and Through the Looking Glass. Normally I’d dock it for not sticking to one or the other, but most re-tellings of the story opt to blend the two rather than explore them individually. Most likely it’s been done this way so often because there’s just enough interesting story progression in each to link together into a movie.
Considering the film derives from a piece of nonsensical literature, I’ve no doubt it was challenging to piece together a solid progression from one scene to the next. However, it doesn’t seem to have been to problematic for Burton who opted to simply axe many mainstays of the original stories completely. I could understand this if it were a mere matter of paring down the story to fit within a time-frame that was digestible for the average movie-goer, but here it feels as if some elements were dropped simply because despite the already existing liberties taken, the writers just didn’t want to take the effort to cleverly tie them together.
Despite plot shortcomings, there’s plenty of magic to explore here, with Burton’s trademark dazzling imagery dominating the whole of the film (especially in 3D), every scene truly does look remarkable. Wonderland has never looked so, well, wondrous. Scenes are vibrantly colored when appropriate and the visual effects for many of the characters are simultaneously captivating and also a little unsettling. For example, many of the actors’ movements look only very subtly unnatural and stiff, which is how dreams often are- steeped in a deep fantasy with only tiny hints to clue you in that something isn’t quite right.
Unfortunately, all of its glitzy charm isn’t enough to rescue it from a bland chemistry between characters. Star-studded as it may be with Depp as the Hatter, Alan Rickman as the caterpillar, and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, there’s a prevailing ‘phoning it in’ feeling here that’s hard to escape. With so much emphasis on the colorful cast of characters it’s hard to be forgiving of actors who come off as simply entitled on account of their association with Burton. The credits almost literally read like a producer’s rolodex that’s been thrown into the ‘Tim Burton Success Formula’ drawer. Alice herself is played by a relative unknown, and truthfully comes off as the best of the cast.
In conclusion, Alice gets the job done, but doesn’t do much to excel. Children will likely love it, but adults looking to find some remnant of their childhood gloriously re-imagined for a nostalgic romp would be better off reading the books.
Alice in Wonderland gets 6 and 1/2 out of 10.
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