When I saw the trailers for Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” popping up around the Internet, I was worried. There’s a nasty pattern behind restored franchises in cinema, especially when a resurrected film is taken in an “artistic direction.” After attending the 3-D spectacle on its premier, I have to say that my initial assumptions were wrong – for the most part, anyway.
“Alice in Wonderland,” in case you haven’t already heard, isn’t a remake of the old Disney film, or even the first or second book of the “Wonderland” set. Rather, it’s elaborate fan-fiction.
Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton ornately created their own branch onto Alice’s saga by extending the story’s timeline – bringing Alice in not as a child, but as a returning teen.
The story essentially begins at a “secret” engagement party for Alice (Mia Wasikowska) and her bumbling suitor Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill), where characters close to Alice are introduced in passing, later to be mirrored by the significant denizens of Wonderland.
When the snotty Ascot awkwardly proposes to Alice, she flusters and leaves in a rush, following the White Rabbit that’s lurked around her throughout the party. After a considerable amount of running she – you guessed it – falls down a rabbit-hole and into Wonderland.
Mirroring the first few sequences of the original story, she finds herself shrunken and in a strange world, surrounded by talking creatures (all of whom are brilliantly voiced) and psychotic caricatures of people, specifically The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). There is a problem though – the rebels of Wonderland believe they’ve found “the wrong Alice.”
But don’t worry – I won’t spoil the rest of the story for you.
No exaggeration, the first bits of this movie are phenomenal. The plot is vibrant and quirky; the creatures look like they belong in their settings. The score by Danny Elfman is quite lovely, and the characters are distinct, well-fleshed and cast perfectly – Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar, and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, just to name a few.
The problem with the movie is that the only truly amazing parts are in the first half, maybe the first three-quarters. As the film progresses, the Hollywood action starts to sneak in and photo-bomb. Everything builds up to this hollow action climax that frankly just doesn’t feel like it needs to be there. That’s not to say that it’s boring, but it does have an air of being unnecessary.
All in all, this movie is certainly worth seeing, if not for the plot, loveable cast and inspired art, then at least to see Depp’s “Braveheart”-like sword-slinging at the end.
3.5 out of 5 stars
A Walt Disney Pictures production
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter
Rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations and for a smoking caterpillar.
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