It sounded like such a great idea: the legendary dark visionary Tim Burton directing a new adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Who wouldn’t pay to see that?
That is why it is disheartening for me to say that, despite a collaboration of great talent, “Alice in Wonderland” is a complete mess of a film with hardly any thrills, fun or soul to be found in it.
Burton’s latest (and hopefully last) children’s series adaptation stars relative newcomer Mia Wasikowska as 19-year-old Alice Kingsley.
Meant to be seen as a semi-sequel to the beloved Disney tale, the Alice of this film has been plagued for years by a recurring nightmare that mirrors the events of the animated Disney version.
After a very uninteresting beginning that involves her feeling overcome with pressure to marry a haughty English lord, Alice spots the ever-familiar White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) and takes out after it all the way to her fall down the abysmal rabbit hole where the “adventure” begins.
Upon her arrival in Underland, Alice encounters many of the film’s supporting characters: the emotionless and mostly humorless Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the quite entertaining but seldom seen Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry) and the Red Queen.
The presentation of the Red Queen, played by Burton’s wife Helena Bonham Carter, is a curious one.
Her head is three times the size of an average head and it quite closely resembles that of Bozo the Clown.
Her unconventional portrayal of the Red Queen is mostly successful, as her jokes and quips are the few instances of comedy in the film.
The commander of her army, the Knave of Hearts, is played by Crispin Glover (“Back to the Future”). His appearance is abnormal as well, coming across as a combination Burton’s Hessian horseman from “Sleepy Hollow” and Jack Skellington in “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
While Alice still believes she is in one of her dreams, the creatures of Underland have expected her arrival.
A scroll claims she is supposed to save the people of Underland by slaying the evil Jabberwocky, thereby re-establishing power to the White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway (“Rachel Getting Married”).
Hathaway’s constant and perhaps intentional sashaying across the screen was hard to watch, although she is comical in a scene or two.
The visual effects of “Alice” are impressive. The mushroom-filled outskirts of Underland are truly a sight to behold and the Red Queen’s kingdom is very intricately detailed.
However, I am unsure how young children will react to the film.
It won’t be as emotionally scarring for children to see like it was when I saw Burton’s “Batman Returns” as a child, but Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole might produce screams from small children in the theater.
The little kid in me would not have enjoyed it, but since a child’s focus on a film is mostly visual, I suppose some will find enjoyment in it.
I greatly anticipated what sort of quirky and quotable new character Depp would unleash upon the world by playing the Mad Hatter.
The result, in my opinion, was extremely underwhelming. There was nothing memorable at all of his appearance in the movie.
I am still uncertain whether it was intended for his character to be constantly changing his voice; he first talks with a lisp that appears and disappears at will, and at random times it sounds like an impression of William Wallace from “Braveheart.”
I get the feeling that not even Depp himself knew how to portray the Hatter.
The performance comes through as a mishmash of characters he has done in the past and was truly no fun to watch.
The decision to exhibit this film in 3-D did it an extreme disservice.
There is nothing so visually impressive in film that 3-D accentuates, and 3-D glasses seriously dull down a film’s color.
While we could have seen the impressive world of Underland in bright and vivid colors, the unnecessary addition of 3-D takes away from that experience.
“Alice in Wonderland” is a film that, in my estimation, was not properly thought out ahead of its making.
The story is mediocre; the characters are void of any sort of captivating emotion; the final product is empty and I cannot recommend seeing it.
I have been more than satisfied by every Burton/Depp film thus far, but this is the seventh time they have worked together.
With 20 years worth of collaboration under their belts, it was inevitable that they would run dry at some point.
I haven’t lost faith in Tim Burton yet, though.
It seems as though it’s the cool idea in Hollywood to get Burton’s inventive spin on a legendary or beloved tale from the literary world.
He needs to take a James Cameron-like break and come up with an original idea as compelling as “Edward Scissorhands.”
It doesn’t have to be the epic visual feast that every filmgoer is being bombarded with at the cinema these days; he just needs to come up with something new. I know it can happen. Until then I will wait patiently.
(*1/2) out of (****)
Click Here to read “Burton’s ‘Wonderland’ engrossing, imaginative,” entertainment editor Hannah Rogers’s review of “Alice In Wonderland.”