DIRECTOR: Tim BurtonSTARRING: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter
Having been a long-time fan of Tim Burton’s work, I was excited when I heard that he was doing his own version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. It seemed like a natural fit, particularly with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter at his side. What I got, however, was a disappointing, underwhelming piece of glitz, something that is unfortunately becoming more and more common in Burton’s work: sacrificing good story in favor of flash.
Alice in Wonderland is not exactly a retelling of Carroll’s story, but more of a continuation. It starts off when Alice (Wasikowska) is a nineteen-years-old girl, suffering from repeated dreams of falling down a rabbit hole and encountering strange characters. Upon escaping from an arranged engagement proposal from a dull suitor, Alice once again stumbles upon a rabbit hole and, of course, tumbles down it. Thus begins her adventures in Wonderland, where she meets the classic characters of Carroll’s original story, including the Mad Hatter (Depp). She is bombarded with questions of whether or not she is the “real” Alice, as everyone down there has apparently been waiting for her return so that she can save Wonderland from the tyrannical reign of the Red Queen (Bonham-Carter).
Visually, Burton gets high marks for this one. Everything looks brilliant and borderline psychedelic, like his films typically do. But that seems to be the only priority here: whether or not everything looks good. Story and acting fall to the wayside, as the plot is entirely contrived and bland. It’s almost as though the script was written by fifty different writers who each came up with a scene that they thought would look really cool, and then all those scenes were thrown together. There was no tension whatsoever, and the story’s resolution was practically stated during the first half hour of the film. For such a vivid and potentially creative film, the story was actually incredibly boring.
As far as acting goes, the only actor who highlighted the film was Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen. She stole almost every scene she was in, providing some much-needed genuine comedy. Even Johnny Depp bored me — every quirk and nuance that he tried to bring to the Mad Hatter was essentially identical to his performance as Willy Wonka. I’m afraid that dear Johnny might be getting lazy, believing that if he simply wears bizarre makeup/costumes and acts like an eccentric person on drugs then audiences are guaranteed to think he is brilliant. Sorry, Johnny, but that’s not enough for me. And then there is Mia Wasikowska, a fairly pretty but stony-faced and flat actress, playing Alice. Aside from the fact that she looks lovely in her colorful costumes, she brings absolutely nothing to what could have been a charming role, practically sleepwalking through it. All I have to say is: unfortunate.
The bottom line is that Alice in Wonderland is a beautifully made bad film that’s going to make tons of money. It will be hailed as “brilliant” because of the creative visuals and another “quirky” performance on Depp’s part. But a wonder it is not.
FINAL GRADE: C+
Having been a long-time fan of Tim Burton’s work, I was excited when I heard that he was doing his own version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. It seemed like a natural fit, particularly with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter at his side. What I got, however, was a disappointing, underwhelming piece of glitz, something that is unfortunately becoming more and more common in Burton’s work: sacrificing good story in favor of flash.
Alice in Wonderland is not exactly a retelling of Carroll’s story, but more of a continuation. It starts off when Alice (Wasikowska) is a nineteen-years-old girl, suffering from repeated dreams of falling down a rabbit hole and encountering strange characters. Upon escaping from an arranged engagement proposal from a dull suitor, Alice once again stumbles upon a rabbit hole and, of course, tumbles down it. Thus begins her adventures in Wonderland, where she meets the classic characters of Carroll’s original story, including the Mad Hatter (Depp). She is bombarded with questions of whether or not she is the “real” Alice, as everyone down there has apparently been waiting for her return so that she can save Wonderland from the tyrannical reign of the Red Queen (Bonham-Carter).
Visually, Burton gets high marks for this one. Everything looks brilliant and borderline psychedelic, like his films typically do. But that seems to be the only priority here: whether or not everything looks good. Story and acting fall to the wayside, as the plot is entirely contrived and bland. It’s almost as though the script was written by fifty different writers who each came up with a scene that they thought would look really cool, and then all those scenes were thrown together. There was no tension whatsoever, and the story’s resolution was practically stated during the first half hour of the film. For such a vivid and potentially creative film, the story was actually incredibly boring.
As far as acting goes, the only actor who highlighted the film was Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen. She stole almost every scene she was in, providing some much-needed genuine comedy. Even Johnny Depp bored me — every quirk and nuance that he tried to bring to the Mad Hatter was essentially identical to his performance as Willy Wonka. I’m afraid that dear Johnny might be getting lazy, believing that if he simply wears bizarre makeup/costumes and acts like an eccentric person on drugs then audiences are guaranteed to think he is brilliant. Sorry, Johnny, but that’s not enough for me. And then there is Mia Wasikowska, a fairly pretty but stony-faced and flat actress, playing Alice. Aside from the fact that she looks lovely in her colorful costumes, she brings absolutely nothing to what could have been a charming role, practically sleepwalking through it. All I have to say is: unfortunate.
The bottom line is that Alice in Wonderland is a beautifully made bad film that’s going to make tons of money. It will be hailed as “brilliant” because of the creative visuals and another “quirky” performance on Depp’s part. But a wonder it is not.
FINAL GRADE: C+
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