Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Fun new take on classic characters

Cons: A bit too dark and predictable

The Bottom Line:

Not classic Alice

But the new take is still fun

Go enjoy the trip

"Are You THE Alice?"  "There's Been Some Debate About That."

Not being a Tim Burton fan (much to the dismay of some of my friends), I've been debating about his new version of Alice in Wonderland almost since I first heard about it.  But curiosity got the better of me, and I went to see it.  This certainly isn't the Wonderland of the books (and combines elements from both of Lewis Carroll's famous tales), but if you can get past that, you'll find it very enjoyable.

It's been thirteen years since Alice (Mia Wasikowska) first visited Wonderland.  Now a young woman of nineteen, she is about to become engaged, only she isn't sure if she wants to get married.

And that's when Alice starts seeing a rabbit in a waistcoat again.  Curious, she follows him down a giant rabbit hole and lands in Wonderland.  Everyone there seems to remember her, but she doesn't remember any of it.  They are expecting Alice to free them from the reign of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).  But Alice doesn't think she is the Alice they think she is.  Can she free them?

I knew going into this that we were dealing with the Alice of the books, and I was glad.  If I had been expecting that, I would have been highly disappointed.  That's not to say there aren't plenty of nods to the source material.  Obviously, the characters are the same.  Plenty of references are made to the most famous aspects of the books, which kept this fan smiling.

By ditching the books, this movie is able to tell one coherent story instead of a series of encounters Alice has with the strange creatures.  Everything is woven together quite well, and I liked where the story went.  This isn't to say that the story was original.  In fact, I found the predictability of the story to be one of the biggest flaws with the movie.

Tim Burton has a very specific visual style, and it is all over the place here.  Every moment of every frame screams Tim Burton.  It is gorgeous to look at.  The movie is filled with visual effects, and they are quite believable.  Only one or two of them fell flat for me.  And considering Alice changed sizes several times over the course of the movie, that's pretty impressive.

I went to see the movie in 3D.  While I enjoyed the effects, very few of the moments truly required the technology to enjoy.  I wouldn't worry about seeing it that way.  Save the money and see it in standard 2D.

The acting and voice acting were all top notch.  It's not too surprising that Johnny Depp can play crazy so well.  I did see another couple characters in his Mad Hatter, but he was always good.  Helena Bonham Carter was great as the Red Queen.  Anne Hathaway seemed weird as the White Queen, but that was mainly because of how she played her.  I've seen some people complain about Mia Wasikowa as Alice, but I thought she was great in the part.

One reason I'm not usually a fan of Tim Burton's movies is his dark tone.  That's certainly true here.  There were several scary moments that might scare young kids, although those in the audience with me seemed okay with the movie.  One particularly nasty scene involves skulls in a moat.  Another couple things like that seemed pointless to me and would have made for a better movie if they were left out.

Overall, I am glad I gave in and went to see Alice in Wonderland.  It's a different take on the classic characters, and that's what makes it fun.