Alice in Wonderland
Directed by Tim Burton
Walt Disney Pictures, 2010
By Sean Kelly
I have to preface by saying that I consider Tim Burton one of my all-time favourite directors and I usually end up loving whatever he does. However, I am sure that more casual viewers are happy that Burton is back with a bright and colourful movie after going into much darker territory with 2007’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
This film, of course, is based on Lewis Carroll’s novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. The film is more a reinterpretation of the novels, rather than a straight adaptation. However, the basic story is still the same: Alice chases a white rabbit down a hole and she encounters the world of “Underland” and its many strange and unique inhabitants.
Alice is played by relative newcomer Mia Wasikowska (who some may remember from the HBO series In Treatment). Wasikowska plays a much older Alice and in the story she is making her second trip, a decade after her original adventure. Johnny Depp goes into full-on crazy mode as The Mad Hatter. His portrayal of the Hatter comes off as a mix of Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Alice is called upon by The White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to save Underland from The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). Anyone familiar with the original stories would know that the Red and White Queen were the chess pieces from Through the Looking Glass. The film reinterprets them as rival sisters and the Red Queen was combined with the more well-known Queen of Hearts. In what can be considered his most high-profile role in ages, Crispin Glover (i.e. George McFly from Back to the Future) stands at the Red Queen’s side as the Knave of Hearts.
A pretty good voice cast is also featured for the many animal creatures of the film. These include Micheal Sheen as the White Rabbit, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Alan Rickman as the wise Caterpillar, and Christopher Lee — who shows up for only two lines as the vicious Jabberwocky. Rounding out the many characters in the film is Matt Lucas (from the sketch comedy show Little Britain) as both Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
The film is the first major release since Avatar to be shown in 3D. I have to admit that Burton’s use of 3D is a bit more gimmicky than Cameron’s (there’s at least one major pop-out moment). The 3D still comes off as an addition to the film, rather than something required for proper viewing. I saw the film in IMAX 3D; however, I’m sure it would still look great with a normal 2D viewing.
Let it be said that this is definitely Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Not only did he modify the story to his liking, but Burton’s touch is all over the film from the Gothic look of the Red Queen’s castle to the familiar sounds of Danny Elfman’s score. In my opinion, the end result is just wonderful.
I really enjoyed this film. I like the direction Burton took the movie, I liked the style of the movie, I liked the idea that Alice couldn’t remember her previous trips to Wonderland. It was really cool.
The 3D was sub par though. A little gimmicky yes, but also kind of unnecessary…I wouldn’t have any problem watching this in 2D. AIW wasn’t actually shot in 3D, they shot it in 2D and added the 3D in later, and I thought it showed.
Clash of the Titans comes out April 2nd, and it was also shot in 2D but modified to 3D, so we’ll see how that one turns out.
Yeah, it kind of confuses me why Burton didn’t shoot in 3D, since it was the plan from the get-go to have the film that way.
My guess is that it is cheaper to do a 3D conversion rather than shoot the film with a stereoscopic camera. I believe it will be this aspect that becomes 3D’s greatest challenge.
Hmmm…I just noticed that I made an unintentional pun when I said that Tweedledee and Tweedledum were “rounding” out the characters.