Alice in Wonderland Review: “We’re all mad here!”
March 8, 2010 by Dianna Berrian
Filed under feature overlay, Movies
Alice in Wonderland definitely proved to be as delightfully trippy as you would expect it to be.
The well-known 1951 Disney version of Alice in Wonderland tells a tale of a young girl following a rabbit down its hole and into a strange new world she called “Wonderland”. Comparatively, Tim Burton’s version is closer to the original story written by Lewis Carroll. Instead of a child, Alice is a nineteen year old woman about to be married and have her whole life change. But her short attention span and knack for the fantastical sends her after the infamous rabbit and down the hole into a world known as “Underland”. There she is greeted by characters Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Dormouse (Barbara Windsor) who then take her to meet Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) who clearly has a smoking problem. The debate of whether or not she is the correct Alice to defeat the Jabberwocky – the Queen of Hearts’ beloved evil monster – ensues, and the rest of the movie is an outrageous journey for Alice to find herself and defeat the Red Queen. True to form, to understand you have to be as mad as a hatter. But don’t worry. You’ll get it if you’re normal too!
Favorite characters included Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter, but that’s clearly a given, as he is always a fan favorite. I did enjoy the silliness of the Tweedle brothers, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, voiced by Matt Lucas. Mia Wasikowska’s Alice was less than impressive, and Anne Hathaway’s White Queen was amusing with the dramatic daintiness.
The one actor who particularly stood out from them all, however, was Helena Bonham Carter and her portrayal of the Red Queen. Her performance was filled with red hot anger and quick wit, which dominated the rest of the cast. And hey, it’s hard to find someone to scream “Off with their head!” just right. Kudos to Helena. I’m sensing an award in the future, maybe? Perhaps? We’ll see…
The effects of the movie were intriguing, to say the least. A lot of digital effects, but I found it unnecessary to be in 3D. There were only a few random things that I noticed actually pop out at me. The monstrous creatures and the red metal army of cards were interesting as was the White Queen’s army of chess pieces. My favorite visual aspect of the movie is the costuming. The number of times Alice’s dress changed are lost to me, but I liked every one of the designs. In addition, I loved the Mad Hatter’s and the Queen of Hearts’ outfits. Tim Burton’s style has always been one of my favorites. I definitely think some shout outs are in order to the costume designer, Colleen Atwood.
Tim Burton has definitely delivered a topsy-turvy enjoyable film. (Not that he hasn’t in the past…) Even though some may be disappointed that it’s more of a sequel to Disney’s version, the movie is captivating on its own. As a lover of the fantastical and out-there genres, Alice and Wonderland fits the bill. I’d recommend it to anyone who asks.
Can’t wait to explain to my 10 year old what “unlawful seduction” is.
Personally, I thought the movie is way too scary for little kids. Even so, I really liked how Tim Burton added real people with computerized characters because he just made it work! The only thing I didn’t like was the ending, though, because it was just like oh well, that’s the end…also, the movie seemed too short to incorporate into detail the many fun adventrues that alice went through! Anyways, I love Lewis Carroll and I thought he portrayed the story extremely well within each and every character.
Oh my gravy, I can not wait to see this film. Reading this review makes me all the more anxious to see it. Unfortunately we have to wait for the crowds to die down because my husband freaks out around large groups of people. We always wait till it is old enough to have only a handful of viewers.
Looking forward to see it!
Couls not agree with you more. Great review.
Thanks for the great review and info! I’m taking the kids to see it soon and was debating whether or not to see it in 3D. Based on what I’ve read here, I think I’ll skip that part.
I really want to see this. I’ve heard all sorts of positive things about this movie…that is, until I read the comments on here. :/ I can say I’ve loved all of Tim Burton’s movies except Willy Wonka…
I think that this movie was fuckin great. aND EvEryBodY thAT THinKs iT WaS baD CAn Go sUcK A DIcK aND DiE In A whOLe. FO ShOo
I’m definitely watching it, even if only for the special effects.
I was sorta disappointed because the wholesome experience didnt feel ‘Burton’ enough for me. Nothing stands out. The effects is not the best, in my opinion, some of them even looks cheap. I wasnt quite taken by alice as well, i think her character is very weak and quite forgetable, that leads me to believe that the main character is Mad Hatter instead of her. I love mad hatter so much! (well its probably my bias to Depp) and Helena Bonham Carter is just brilliant as the Red Queen. Hathaway as White Queen is very good as well, it amuses me how she move and how her expression goes
.
Oh and the Chesire cat rule!
Cherie, American McGee was taken off the adaptation back in 2002 before Wes Craven signed on (one in a string of directors who temporarily helmed the project). It’s still in DH at Universal, so…give it another 20 years, another 4 directors, another 758 rewrites, and we’ll still be holding our breath.
I can’t wait to see this movie! I love Tim Burton’s work~
The movie was amazing, everything I hoped it would be and more. Definitely going to be added to my collection.
I agree with you about the 3D, I didn’t like it. I thought I heard when they were originally talking of doing an Alice movie that it WAS going to be based on McGee’s game?
I loved Tim Burton’s version of the new ‘Wonderland’. It was visually amazing and the return of familiar characters such as the white rabbit and the mad hatter. The new creatures such as the Jabberwocky and the Bandersnatch were welcome additions to Wonderland. And although a great deal darker than the famous cartoon that came before it, I think it’s a great tribute and story compared to the books they were based on.
It is Tim Burton after all!
I saw many famous actors were going to be in this. Not just that but Tim Burton is directing it. I was so excited to see it and still am.
I saw that many famous actors were going to be in this. Not just that but Tim Burton is directing it. I was so excited to see it and still am.
I cant wait to see it! everyone has said it is a great movie!!!
The new movie seems to be more action packed than the original movie. Probably because it is supposed to be later, but I would be more excited about it if had the same story line as the original animated one.
I saw this movie after I took shrooms for the first time in my life. I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to try them, and I knew this was it. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, I popped a couple caps and drove to the movies by myself not knowing what to expect (either from the movie or the shrooms). I will never forget my experience. To say the least I thought the movie was amazing (the shrooms probably influenced this). The cat freaked the heck out of me, as well as all the other weird characters and themes. My favorite character was by far the caterpillar. I really recommend watching this movie on shrooms to anyone that has the experience and a strong mindset.
Truer to the books? I’d actually wager that the cartoon is close to the books. But this works as a sequel to the stories,a nd I enjoyed it. Definitely agree the 3D effects weren’t super impressive.
I’ve tried could not contain my enthusiasm when I first heard Tim Burton was directing the new Alice and he definitely delivered! Glad there are still a few people in showbiz that do things their own way.
I have to say, I was quite impressed with the costume choices. Couldn’t have been better. Helena Bonham Carter absolutely blew me away. She’s always very good in playing extreme characters, but her Queen of Hearts will always be one of my favorites. Ah, but my favorite characters? The Tweedles, without a doubt. They added just the right amount of je ne sais quoi to the movie.
This is definitely a movie I’m recommending to anyone that like the work of Tim Burton and to those who are taken by the ways of fantasy.
I have to agree that I was expecting a bit different approach, but my favourite characters: The Cheshire Cat [with an incredible smile
] and The Mad Hatter were wonderful. The ending was Narniish but the effects were cool and acting of Johnny Depp and Bonham Carter was amazing.
All in all this film definitely made me feel as if I were in a fairytale, where everything’s irreal but beautiful
it really was quite visually fun!
Admittedly I am not always a Tim Burton fan, but I’m a huge Lewis Carroll fan and it looks like Burton captured the overall feel of (what I believe) the original books were like. (although I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t be sure.)
I thought this was a great movie and I saw it in IMAX 3D, it was insanely trippy and was an enjoyable storyline to listen to as well
I have been debating about going to see this movie, because I have heard nothing but good things. I am kinda wanting to go see it, especially after reading your review. But I still haven’t seen Avatar so we’ll see if it happens
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Did this make anyone else long for American McGee’s Alice? For my money, it’s the best adaptation out there, even if it is a video game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_-3T1Tljw
The costumes were amazing in the film, no doubt about that. However referring to how closely the movie related to Carroll’s story of Alice in Wonderland is skeptical. The storyline was too predictable with good vs. evil and the movie relating closely to The Chronicles of Narnia. The next Alice in Wonderland movie I would like to see would be the real story of Alyss from the trilogy of The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor turned into a 3D movie.