SYNOPSIS:
Tumble down the rabbit hole with
Alice for a fantastical new adventure from Walt Disney Pictures
and Tim Burton. Inviting and magical, Alice In Wonderland
is an imaginative new twist on one of the most beloved stories
of all time. Alice (Mia Wasikowska), now 19 years old, returns
to the whimsical world she first entered as a child and embarks
on a journey to discover her true destiny. This Wonderland
is a world beyond your imagination and unlike anything you’ve
seen before. The extraordinary characters you’ve loved
come to life richer and more colorful than ever. There’s
the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the White Queen (Anne Hathaway),
the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), the White Rabbit (Michael
Sheen) and more. A triumphant cinematic experience –
Alice In Wonderland is an incredible feast for your eyes,
ears and heart that will captivate audiences of all sizes.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Even
for a guy, I’m sure many of us in our much younger days
would have heard of this story of a girl who somehow fell
into a rabbit hole and encountered strange talking animals
and characters. Even I myself can’t really recall what
exactly happen to Alice in the end but that story obviously
is Lewis Carroll’s "Alice in Wonderland".
But it doesn’t matter really. With
the umpteen reincarnation of Carroll’s work on the big
screen, all you need to know that in the latest Tim Burton’s
version, Alice (played by newcomer Wia Wasikowska) has grown
to be a teenager and yes, gets to fall in the hole again.
This time, she must fulfill her destiny by slaying the Jabberwocky,
a huge ugly dragon. Only then, the evil red queen (Helena
Bonham Carter) can be overthrown and peace be returned.
Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton
generously reworked much of Carroll’s original work
and paints Alice as a woman who amassed incredible strength
and courage to overthrown her destiny in a pre-arranged marriage
in the high society through her journey and perils in Underland
to be exact. But the storytelling strangely isn’t that
engaging and lacks the curiosity seen in past Burton’s
works, Edward Scissorhands and Big Fish. Off to a slow start,
the picture fails to justify the importance of Alice’s
presence in a place overrun by walking decks of cards and
many other characters including a cheshire cat, a brave little
Dormouse, two weird looking overweight twins, Tweedledum and
Tweedledee and the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) with thrills and
spills that is oddly conventional and predictable.
The main salvaging aspect here is Burton’s
gorgeous visual skill, his version of Underland is incredible
Burtonesque right down to the flora, creature designs and
costume designs. Burton easily channel his trademark creepy
mood to Carroll’s world and with his usual partner-in-crime,
the chameleon of the acting industry Mr. Johnny Depp as the
trippy, child-like innocent Mad Hatter, it’s definitely
a feast for the eyes. And I must say Depp certainly upstages
Wasikowska and Anne Hathaway who seems to be sadly miscast
for the part of White Queen.
This
updated version of "Alice in Wonderland" which combines
a hybrid of live-action and CG is nowhere as good as the original
1951’s Disney animated feature. Faithful or not to Carroll’s
story, I would have prefer a much inventive version. How about
getting Alice fallen into the rabbit hole and turns up in
contemporary New York? (I’m sorry that story is in fact
taken by "Enchanted"). Why don’t we make Alice
an apprentice of the Mad Hatter and defend Underland from
their nemesis, the Red Queen? (Unfortunately that sounds awfully
similar to the upcoming "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice").
Whichever
the case, there’s lot to see down the rabbit hole in
this "Alice in Wonderland" though it won’t
exactly make you head over heels declaring it wonderful.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Johnny Depp talks and shows his sketches on how his
version of The Mad Hatter will look like.
It turns out that Burton’s version is very close to
his. Thus now you know why both have such a close working
relationship. Wia Wasikowska also talks about her character
and costume aspects in Finding Alice. The
effects artistes and Tim Burton discuss how the hybrid of
CG and live-action is done in Effecting Wonderland.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Dark, gloomy colours rule the day as per the style
of Tim Burton, the movie looks rather washed-out for most
of the duration while the audio on the other hand is dynamic
and Danny Elfman’s score is a delight to immerse yourself
in.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted on 26 May 2010
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