I've just walked in fresh from viewing this film in that glorious Avatar 3D. One problem: Avatar, despite its many, many problems, was designed to make use of the 3D technology, and seeing it in anything other than its desired format detracts from the experience, like watching a cinema film on an ipod. Or watching Space Ghost in an IMAX theater. Alice in Wonderland suffers from the opposite problem. 3D is chic right now, and there are no less than 3 movies I'm aware of opening soon, touting their 3D as amazing and as if it were a reason to see the film. Alice in Wonderland did not need to be made in 3D. It's Alice in freaking Wonderland, it survives on the strength of its story. Or, it should have in this case.
That's not to say I disliked this film as much as I utterly despised Avatar, far from it. This film is mediocre to good, but it should have been much more. Its stars, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska as Alice, are both acceptable but nothing to write home about. Depp's performance was particularly underwhelming, an unwelcome surprise. His crazy portrayal of Jack Sparrow as seen in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was much more convincing and endearing. The audience is expected to immediately sympathize with the character, or perhaps to sympathize with Depp under all that make up, but he just comes off as run of the mill. And Wasikowska was just weak. She showed no strength in any way, and I was thoroughly disappointed.
The story itself is the original book, thrown into a blender with American Mcgee's Alice, turned into a milkshake with sprinklings of Disney nostalgia, then drank by Tim Burton and pissed out into a theater near you. The plucky and unique female protagonist runs away from her Victorian world of imposed marriage and corsets into a fantastical world where she can really make a difference and oh who cares anymore you're not watching the film for a gripping story. We all know it already. If you've caught the old movie on TV or read the summary on wikipedia of the book you're over prepared.
Now, "what's good?," you may ask. Well, a few things. Helena Bonham Carter is resplendent as usual, and her queen of hearts is precise and critical. Then again, I never have found a reason to speak ill of her in a film, even a film I hate. A welcome surprise is Crispin Glover as Stayne the knave of hearts. His animation made him move in an artificial kind of lanky way that was distracting and irritating, but I'm not completely sure it wasn't supposed to be. But Glover, as usual, was a welcome treat to the cast. As was Stephen Fry's Chesire Cat. Christopher Lee makes his required appearance (seeing as it is a Tim Burton movie and all) voicing the Jabberwocky. It doesn't not work, but that's as much as I'll give it. Alan Rickman's blue caterpillar is fitting, but not much else.
Danny Elfman's music was great for this film. I forget whether it was Alice in Wonderland, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, Darkman, Batman, Batman Returns, Corpse Bride, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that I was watching. But...whichever it was, I'm sure it was dark and fitting, and unique.
This isn't really a bad movie. But what it is is a shallow re-imagining that simply didn't need to be made. Like Burton's Planet of the Apes, I left the theater feeling underwhelmed, and though not totally annoyed, feeling rather empty and vapid much like what had been projected on screen. I'm left looking for the point of it all. I didn't feel like I'd gone on a drug trip, I didn't feel like I'd just watched a shitty movie, I just felt nothing. I'd say you get what you pay for but the 3D tickets were $12.00 apiece, which equates to highway robbery in this case. Honestly I was left feeling more unsettled watching the 1903 version of the film then I was here. Save your money, skip this one.
P.S. The trailer for TRON: Legacy which preceded this film was amazing, if not worth the $12.00 or sitting through the film. But if you're a big enough fan, you'll do it anyways. I sat through Robots just for the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith trailer a few years back. Shitty film, but the fanboy in me still says it was worth it.
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