Alice In Wonderland

Walking into the theater to see Alice In Wonderland, I expected what one would typically expect of Tim Burton: a macabre romp through some bizarre fantasy land with oddly charming, slightly unsettling characters as my guides. That is what I got, but I was surprised at how delighted I was with essentially the same old thing.

Much like Willy Wonka’s world in Burton’s rendition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice’s Wonderland is naturally a strange place without the director’s eclectic touch. However, very much unlike the factory, Wonderland was absurd and magical without seeming contrived - nothing felt bizarre for the sake of being bizarre.

The Hatter (Johnny Depp) was mad, yes, but also endearing. He had an origin, a personality and purpose beyond acting silly - and wooing young female viewers - and for that I was grateful. Also quite mad was the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), and it was, in fact, her lack of depth that allowed her to steal the show. I am often put off by Carter’s shallow portrayals of madness and quirkiness (see her work in the Harry Potter series for reference), but as the Queen, her incessant ranting and raving was appropriate, and truthfully, any further character development may have hindered her effectiveness. The White Queen (Anne Hathaway), however, was under-developed and quite disappointingly so. She was beautiful, I must admit, but Hathaway’s performance was amateur. I felt as though I was watching a child clad in her mother’s dress, acting like a princess.

The 3D effects were notably under-played, as well, and honestly, I was happily surprised. Too often in 3D movies, the filmmaker will go out of his way to work in every possible projectile, explosion, abrupt finger thrusting into the faces of the audience members, and frankly, they are distractions from the movie and blatant abuses of the technology. Yes, there was an occasional teacup flung into the air, sporadic dragonflies and rocking horseflies floating off the screen; but the 3D was not taken advantage of. Rather it was used subtly to enhance the movie’s realism.

Overall, I found Alice In Wonderland remarkably enjoyable. In spite of the fact that the “real world” sub-story explored at the beginning and end was obviously and regrettably an afterthought, the adventure through Wonderland, which constitutes the great majority of the film will entertain and charm enough to make up for it.