Movie Review: Alice In Wonderland

It’s great fun to walk into a movie theater, not expecting much, and walk out feeling totally entertained. It doesn’t happen often enough so when it does, I am very appreciative. Tim Burton’s, Alice In Wonderland is not a great movie but it is a good movie. What really saves it? It’s short. Clocking in at 108 minutes allows us to overlook some of its shortcomings and enjoy what it has to offer. It is an unusual take on the old story, keeping the major players but tweaking it a bit, ultimately making a different and timelier (not better), point. The screenplay has Lewis Carroll’s story as the back drop but the updated style of Linda Woolverton - who brought us the tough characters in Disney’s Mulan and The Lion King - bringing to the table something fresh and unique. This Alice is a film about a brave 19 year old girl who follows her dream and follows her heart and to do that she just may have to run away and slay a dragon (or a Jabberwocky). I think a lot of girls can relate to that. This girl can. The movie is a Tim Burton production, so you can rest assured, it will be crazy. He’s responsible for: Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, The Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd (he really loves Johnny Depp), to name a few. But the craziness works, as it always does for him, because the stories are strong and his cast always delivers. Alice is no exception. Mia Wasikowska (you’ll recognize her from HBO's In Treatment) as Alice is beautiful and as tiny as she is, exudes strength. By the end, she is like Joan of Arc. Helena Bonham Carter (Sweeney Todd, Terminator Salvation) is irresistibly wicked as the Red Queen. Crispin Glover as Stayne, is equally perfect as her sidekick. Their ridiculous lusty glances at each other are too funny. This is not Johnny Depps’ shining hour, but he is good. As The Mad Hatter, he uses one of his weird voices that, at times, is difficult to understand. You will be asking yourself, “what did he say?”, quite a bit but don’t worry, you’ll always know what’s going on. Tweedledee and Tweedledum (both played by Matt Lucas), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) are the other familiar Wonderland residents; all great and beautifully rendered. In terms of the art direction and set design, Wonderland is no Pandora. The bar has been set very high; we have been spoiled by Avatar. In all fairness, Alice was not shot in 3D. Traditional cameras were used and the dimensional technology was added later. It shows. Visually, it pales in comparison to what we have come to expect from 3D. This is not a movie for small children. Some of the images are very scary. The story is sweet and strong enough to hold up on a TV screen, but see it in a movie theater. It’s fun, fast moving and you can talk about how it compares to the original story when you get out.