Movie Review: Alice In Wonderland

by Ellen Sterling

Friday, March 5, 2010

Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter and Mia Wasikowska
Photo courtesy Walt Disney Studios

Tim Burton has to be one of the most imaginative filmmakers around. Consider his work: Edward Scissorhands, Mars Attacks!, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, The Corpse Bride, Willy Wonka….well, you get the idea. Even when he’s telling a very familiar story, he makes it his own and watching one of his films is always an adventure into the unexpected.

With Alice In Wonderland Burton taken the familiar story, transformed  and reimagined it into a winning blend of live action and animation. The plotline can be found in the Lewis Carroll poem that is included in the original story. The monster in the film is the Jabberwock — a fearsome creature kept chained up and used as a threat.

First, Alice is no longer a little girl. She’s 19, on the brink of becoming engaged and in possession of a very unique way of seeing the world. A 20th century rebel in the 19th century. She’s an adult forced to cope — whether in a dream or for real — with a series of the most unexpected, bizarre events and characters. She is perfectly played by the very lovely Mia Wasikowska.

The Jabberwork is held captive by the Red Queen — oversized head to go with her oversized sense of self — played by Bonham-Carter. Red’s arch-enemy is the gentle, much-loved White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and, if Alice can employ the “vorpal sword” to slay the Jabberwock, Red will be defeated and White restored to power. All of this will happen on the Underland’s special date, the “Frabjous” Day (from the poem Jabberwocky again).

The Mad Hatter, is Johnny Depp in an absolutely delicious performance. He is Alice’s touchstone and friend, keeping her grounded in this crazy “underland” (if it is possible to be grounded there) and improvising madly (in a good way) to help her restore the White Queen.

All of the familiar characters are there — the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum,  the Cheshire Cat, the Blue Caterpillar — and are voiced by the likes of Alan Rickman and Michael Sheen. Crispin Glover appears, in person, as the Knave of Hearts and he’s quite loathsome. They’re all lots of fun.

Of course, there’s lots of shouts of “off with his/her/head!” but the violence is quite bloodless. And, once more from the poem, there are even shouts of  “Callooh! Callay!”

At 98 minutes, the film is, by today’s standards, relatively short and the action moves briskly. The 3D adds a great deal to most fanciful sets. It is, in short, simply fun. If you can suspend your disbelief for 98 minutes, you’ll enjoy it.

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