Alice in Wonderland Review

I am a big Tim Burton fan and when I discovered this was coming out I was super excited, Alice is one of my favourite stories of all time. The only thing I hate when remakes are done is how they don't stick to the stories properly. Alice in wonderland and Alice through the looking glass are two different stories. But as we see in most representations of Wonderland we see Twiddle dee and Twiddle Dum appear (these characters actually appear in the looking glassm which isn't actually Wonderland) With Tim Burton's Alice it created a new dimension to the much loved story. What if Alice is grown up and goes back to Wonderland?

Plot:
Alice is now 19 years old and is having dreams about a white rabbit in a blue waistcoat since she was young, she has forgotten about her last adventures in wonderland and all the creatures/characters she met 13 years ago. Alice is going to be asked to marry a man she may not even love mainly for the benefits of the two families combining. When she is proposed too she decides to run away and follow the white rabbit. She is shoved into the rabbit hole and greeted by the White Rabbit, The Twiddles, Dodo and Doormouse. Telling her she is the right Alice. Alice is very confused about this and they confront the Blue Caterpillar. Alice goes on a journy through Underland (What Wonderland is really called, Alice just misheard it as Wonderland 13 years earlier). Underland is not the previous Wonderland we have come to love over many other remakes. It looks like a barren wasteland with dead trees and scary forests everywhere (only the white queens castle looks beautiful and maintained) Alice confronts the Mad Hatter who greets her with open arms. Alice must defeat the Red Queen and allow the White Queen to regain rule over Underland. To do this Alice must look deep inside herself and find her inner bravery to defeat the Red Queen's champion the Jabberwocky.

I quite enjoyed this film and the idea of Alice coming back to Wonderland (or Underland) and seeing the differences in previous adaptions. Another interesting thing is that all the characters Mad Hatter, both Queens and the Blue Caterpillar actually have real names (although I can't remember them nor spell them) this adds much more depth to the characters I think. It makes them seem more human in a way.
Now the Actors
Mia Wasikowska - Alice - Being an Australian actress in one of her first feature films and to score the leading role must be pretty big. She captured the innocence of Alice quite well, still living in her mind the childhood she has left behind. I think she has a big future Ahead of her

Helena Bonham Carter - Red Queen - she looked amazing, that big head was what made her character so good. That and her acting of course. I would consider her a cross between Beatrix Lestrange (Harry Potter) and Mrs Lovett (Sweeny Todd). You can see she has had a tough childhood competing with her sister (White Queen) for attention. Her soloution to everything is off with thier head. Surely one of the best character adaptations. (My favourite still maintans Miranda Richardson in a mini series a few years ago)

Johnny Depp - Mad Hatter - Johnny never ceases to amaze me with his talent. He can play a shy man with scissor hands, a drugged induced journalist, a homicidal barber, an over the top chocolate maker, a rum hungry pirate or just a sweet boyfriend who gets killed by a guy with knife hands. Now he plays an eccentric Mad Hatter with a bit to much Mercury in the brain. This I think is up here as one of his best characters. It wasn't as over the top as I expected but that i gathered was due to the changes in Underland throughout the years. He was cleary born for this role

Anne Hathaway - White Queen - When I heard this my initial response was Anne Hathaway in a Tim Burton film? NO WAY CAN SHE PULL THAT OFF.....well she proved me wrong. She was so graceful, she floated around with her hands in the air and was a complete juxtapostion to her sister. I would really like to see her in more roles like this. Although the dissapointment was that she didn't seem to get much air time through the film.

All in all this was a good film and good adaption of the franchise and having Tim Burtons touch was what made it good (I actually found myself comparing sets like that from Nightmare before christmas and Edward scissorhands - thats the kind of mood it sets). So yes it was visually stunning, yes the story was great, yes the actors acting was excellent. But no it is not my favourite Tim Burton film. I think I was let down by it expecting it to overtake Nightmare before Christmas as my favourite, but it didn't there was just something that sat odd with me about the whole film and I can't put my finger on it

3/5

Now as an added bonus I thought I would rank my Tim Burton films from as far as him Directing.

1. Nightmare before christmas
2. Beetlejuice
3. Edward scissorhands
4. Charlie and the Chocolate factory
5. Corpse Bride
6. Alice in wonderland
7. Mars Attacks
8. Sleepy Hollow
9. Batman
10. Batman returns
11. Planet of the apes

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/ according to IMDB, I have not seen Big Fish yet (thought I had) nor have I seen some of his earlier short films

Like to know some of your favourite Tim Burton films.