"Alice in Wonderland", 2010

Alice (Mia Wasikowska) enters through the rabbit hole into the world of Wonderland

“You used to be much more….muchier. You’ve lost your muchness.”

    “Alice in Wonderland” is not a film for children. It’s very much a grown-up interpretation of the source material, dark, mysterious and at times frightening.  Director Tim Burton and company  have taken a familiar story and breathed new life into it with spectacular visuals and characters that are more fleshed-out and real than they have ever been shown before.

    Alice Kingsleigh is a Victorian-Era teenager bordering on the edge of adult-hood. She has recently lost her father and will soon be asked for her hand in marriage by the dorky and somewhat repugnant Lord Hamish Ascot. Alice isn’t really interested in this and so, runs away at the engagement party/ceremony. She soon finds herself down the rabbit hole and whisked off to Wonderland (or Underland, as it’s referred to in the film). Upon arriving, she finds herself in a room with several doors, a key and a vial of liquid that says ‘Drink Me’. This scene plays out  as it usually does for anyone that is familiar with the previous iterations of the Alice tale. Soon after this, we receive our first glimpses of Underland, and this is truly not the Wonderland with which you are familiar. Burton’s Wonderland is, truly, a sight to behold. At times it appears to be dark and battle-damaged. Indeed, in one scene the ground and trees are still smoldering from a previous attack many years prior. Other parts of the world are bright and vibrant and seem to teem with life.

    The characters that inhabit the story are no less magnificent in their design. From a queen with an oversized head, to a wide-eyed Hatter, to a giant, slender, one-eyed Knave, every one of the characters appears just a bit off from the norm, but then that’s the point. The residents of Underland are brought to realization through a magnificent blend of CGI, costume design and acting, towing the line between reality and surrealism. Helena Bonham-Carter (The Red Queen) and Johnny Depp (The Mad Hatter) are both superb in their respective roles and bring out facets of the characters that help make them more rounded. Mia Wasikowska is a terrific casting find, as she fully embodies the character of Alice. She is able to convey the wonder, fright and strength necessary to pull the audience into the adventure along with her.

    My fault with the picture lies not in any of the visuals or acting, indeed all are above par. It lies with the breakdown of the story. Linda Woolverton and Tim Burton, in their efforts to find more emotional attachment to the story for the audience, have unfortunately seemed to have lost the heart.  The plot starts out well enough, but seems to get caught up too much within the three-act structure and things go spiraling into predictability by the end. Alice is trying to find herself, and the courage to be exactly that, to stand up and be different, to fight what society sees as her destiny. The problem lies, mostly, in that by the time the third act rolls around she’s already accomplished this and in fact, almost slides back on this accomplishment just so the filmmakers can have that exciting climax between Alice and the Jabberwocky. Throughout the entire film Alice vehemently denies that she will fight and slay the monstrous dragon-like creature going so far as to state, “I couldn’t even if I wanted to.” and yet, sure enough, there she is at the end hacking away at the beast, because that’s what was foretold. It calls in to question the entire point of her being in this new world where she was on an adventure to find the courage to buck the trend of doing what she was supposed to do just because that was what she supposed to do.

    Overall, the movie is a delight to see, visually. It’s effects and performances are tremendous and truly feels like a trip through someone’s imagination. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t hold up and indeed delves into absurdity by the end, making the film something of a beautiful mess.

6/10