I’m not sure what to say about this movie. I’ll start with the visuals. It was beautiful. A perfect Tim Burton world, realized down to every little detail. I could watch full scenes without paying attention to the dialogue and just enjoy how damn pretty it looked, all with its own skewed twist.
The story, however, needed a lot of work. It was written like someone read Lewis Carroll’s work, pulled out some key phrases, and tried to write a script around them. It didn’t have the feel of Carroll, of his illogical logic and random strangeness. Rather than expand on the universe, using the same rules set forth by Carroll, it was a poorly made Xerox of Wonderland, with some smudges right where the important parts were.
I don’t know what genius decided to name this “Alice in Wonderland” but make a Hook-like return to Wonderland. I don’t know why anyone thought that watching Tim Burton work his mad genius on the original works would be a poor idea. I don’t know why this movie existed other than to give Johnny Depp a ridiculous Scottish accent and a bigger role than he really needed.
I liked it, but it should have been named something different. And the dialogue should have been rewritten by someone with a brain. And the gorgeous actress who played Alice, Mia Wasikowska, should have done some full frontal nudity.
I give it three out of five vorpal blades.
(And for those of you who haven’t read the original works, the poem I posted yesterday is verbatim from Carroll’s works.)
Enjoy this post? Try these:My review of Terminator: Salvation (Spoiler Free)
My review of The Time Traveler’s Wife (Spoiler Free)
My review of Bruno (spoiler-free)
Twitter: Amanda234
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I don’t know, this looked bad to me from the beginning. I think I’m just tired of the johnny/tim/helena combo
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@Amanda, TOTALLY agree. it’s like there’s some secret deal in hollywood: “ok, from now on, all ‘weird’ flics include both johnny AND helena, deal?” really? it’s impossible to make a flic that is both kinda weird and very entertaining and NOT include one or both? i grieve for hollywood, deeply.
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Twitter: MrsLoulou
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What is Johnny Depp in the movie? Yes, I should know, but I don’t…
also, yeah I’m sad that’s it not the original story…. Why not, you know? I’ll go see it soon.
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i’m going to reread this with my 3D glasses on. then i won’t have to see it at all. i love tim burton so i’m going to see it. and i hear the make up is amazing. but i’m bummed by what you say regarding the dialog.
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Twitter: thepsychobabble
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That’s a little disappointing, to be honest. I would have thought that Lewis Carrol’s twisted mind, and Tim Burton’s twisted-ness would have blended better than that.
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I had no idea that it was less Alice in Wonderland, and more Return To Wonderland. I’ll probably see it anyway.
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Oh, poo. That sucks. It seems like it’s been high hopes dashed, in the past year, starting with Where The Wild Things Are.
I might just wait til it comes to On Demand, then.
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Twitter: thegoddesscher
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I personally love the Johnny/Helena/Tim combos. They are like the Three’s Company of weird world.
Rock on, you crazy threesome.
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I am only interested in Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, myself. For a “reimagining” of the original, I’ll just stick with the Kung-Fu Alice that was a two-part miniseries on SyFy.
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Twitter: Faiqa
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Why did you have to clarify that you posted Carroll’s poem verbatim? I’m off to read the comments on yesterday’s post, now.
And, I still can’t wait to see this movie!! But, sadly, I must.
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Twitter: shellimil
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I think I’ll skip it. It looks even weirder than the original. Alice in Wonderland never appealed to me. Maybe because I never did hard drugs. Or any drugs, really.
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When I saw the (awesome) preview, I thought, Oh, this must not be titled “Alice in Wonderland,” but it WAS. You’re right. It’s obvious from the trailer that it’s not “Alice in Wonderland.” Still, I would rather have seen that than “Valentine’s Day,” which my friend insisted on yesterday.
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I’ll probably go see it, anyway. The visuals are way too stunning.
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Twitter: elizabethbarone
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I haven’t seen it yet, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to; it looks like Tim Burton tried too hard to be weird. I know weird is his thing, and I’ve always liked that about him, but this movie just seems forced to me.
I probably won’t go see it after reading your review.
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Kudos to Depp, then, that he still generates another memorable, albeit this time one-dimensional, on screen persona. He provides his Hatter with plenty of lovable eccentricities and rough edges, all the more noteworthy considering the non-existent depth to which the material affords him. He’ll certainly be a hit with the kids. The rest of the cast are unpredictable in their output: Aussie newcomer Wasikowska overdoes it as the titular protagonist, Hathaway’s saccharine White Queen grates on the nerves and the opaque Glover is unbearably boring as Stayne; whilst Carter’s malevolent Red Queen is a hoot, Lucas induces a laugh or two as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Rickman oozes noble charisma as the Blue Caterpillar and Paul Whitehouse’s March Hare steals every single scene he is in.
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Twitter: laurie_pooh
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I pretty much agree with you. I kept thinking of Mike Myers every time Johnny Depp opened his mouth. It was super pretty to look at, but the story was lacking. I was excited to hear Alan Rickman because he is my favorite.
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I havne’t read any of the other comments in case of spoilers – I’m going to see this movie next week and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve heard mixed reviews though.
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I’m going to see this next weekend. I hope I like it better than you did.
And the only reason I agreed to go was that I heard Johnny Depp was doing some full frontal nudity.
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Twitter: daksmom
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Saw it last night and wasn’t sure I would like it, but am glad I went. Maybe because I saw it in IMAX 3D, I was just dazzled by the larger than life stuff
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i reviewed _alice_ for fandomania.com and i tore it apart too. i called it a “disasterpiece” and i think the multi-text mash-up made for a bizarre, confusing plot. and seriously, the last thing hollywood needs is more 3-D. i could live a happy life never sitting through a 3-D shitshow again in my life.
i agree w/ the avitable though. if you could mute out the forced dialogue some scenes were cool looking. and mia as alice made this mostly-straight girl swoon.
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I enjoyed it immensely. I give it 5 out of 5 stars, quite honestly.
Tremendously better than Charlie & the Chocolate Factory.
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