"Alice in Wonderland"
My 0-10 rating: 6
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Tim Burton
Screenwriter: Linda Woolverton, based on the
1865 Lewis Carroll classic
Starring: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Stephen Fry, Matt Lucas, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen
Time: 1 hr., 48 min.
Rating: PG (for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar)
Totally formula, completely politically corrected, but it'll dazzle you with the supercharged power of special effects.
In terms of pure entertainment value, by the sheer brute force of computer effects, "Alice in Wonderland" will not leave you indifferent, especially not in 3-D. And for sure, Johnny Depp's wonderfully imaginative interpretations are good for a major draw.
But in story hooks, this is very orthodox stuff. That is, orthodox for the last 20 years in which filmmakers pay slavish tribute to the demands of female empowerment at the expense of old-timey whimsy and waggery. In particular, it seems that a fairy tale can't be told anymore in the spirit in which it was written. Hey, I'm all for female equality everywhere but when it changes the whole sense of a classic story -- no. Can you imagine, say, polically correcting a Jane Austen story? No? Then why a fable? Besides that, this film follows along the usual route to a grand, special effects-driven finale designed for marketing videogames soon to come.
Here then we are treated, or bludgeoned, with one obligatory scene after the next of Alice confronting and mowing down one Victorian value after the next, leaving the magic of the Lewis Carroll classic in the dust. Alice, unlike in the original tale, is in complete charge of everybody and everything. And with special effects.
Granted, the film does preserve to some degree various charming critters and glib dialogue. And visual surprises are many. Your head is zipped around adroitly by the well-established Tim Burton genius. The scene designs are as extravagant as they are vibrant. You can legitimately love 'em. And Alice's experiences are indeed wondrous to behold.
The 1865 Lewis Carroll classic has now been adapted to grown-up Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) as now a 19-year-old bride-to-be. So this is her second trip to the strange world beneath the earth's surface. It's motivated by her being driven to distraction at a totally boring engagement party, not to say a futile proposal by a lad from the aristocracy, moving her to dive into the same magical rabbit hole of her years of yore.
She'll meet again with the English white rabbitt (Michael Sheen) as she finds all of her old pals and a few new: the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) who's trying to hide from his past and who's afflicted with mercury poisoning and a troubled past. Then come the zany twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Matt Lucas), the infamously frustrating Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry) who's blessed with a spinning head, then the frightening Jabberwocky ( Christopher Lee), then Bayard the Bloodhound (Timothy Spall), the Dormouse (Barbara Windsor), the March Hare (Paul Whitehouse), the villainous Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover), Absolem the Caterpillar (Alan Rickman), the sweet but anxious White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and the oh-so-evil Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who's still doing "off with their heads!" and who abounds with zany situations and funny things to say.
And here's Alice among them again, now of solid character and self-confidence, undaunted and forthright. The Red Queen, obviously will be her arch-enemy. The story will have Alice, of course, face a raging monster.
If you overlook all the modern conventions in this genre, here used endlessly, and just sit back and enjoy the vigorous crazy humor, this is a modestly fun movie.
Marty Meltz, http://www.martymoviereviews.com, was the 30-year films critic for the Award-winning Maine Sunday Telegram until his column was budget-cut on Dec. 31, 2007.
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