Alice in Wonderland
By Nick Manteris · 5 Comments · Leave a Comment
At first glance, Tim Burton (the director of Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Big Fish and The Nightmare Before Christmas, among others) seems like a perfect choice to deliver a unique version of the familiar tale with the proper amount of visual spectacle, ingenuity and darkness. Perhaps it is the Disney influence, but the final product falls short of expectations. This new story, written by Disney-veteran Linda Woolverton (responsible for Mulan, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King), bears more than a passing resemblance to Tin Man, the recent SyFy reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, which, ironically, was undoubtedly influenced by Lewis Carroll’s Alice. Both of these new stories feature female protagonists that travel back to a familiar fantastical realm in order to overthrow the evil forces that have taken over. Both stories also leave something to be desired.
The immediately recognizable story of Alice in Wonderland is almost 150-years old and has insinuated itself into every facet of pop culture… though I can’t recall either reading the book or watching the Disney cartoon as a child. As an adult, I actually own multiples copies of the book, but I still have never read it. (I did, however, memorize “Jabberwocky” in high school and could probably still recite most of the poem.) I’ve played a few levels of American McGee’s Alice, a computer game with a much darker feel than the original story, but the mechanics of the game interfered with the excellent art design. Additionally, I’ve seen the unimpressive 1999 television adaptation of the story, I’ve certainly heard the song “White Rabbit” and I’ve noticed a multitude of allusions in numerous different forms of media, with The Matrix being the most blatant of the bunch. The point here is that Alice in Wonderland is an important part of our culture and deserves to be treated as such. On a positive note, Burton’s version of Alice gets most everything right and, for the most part, looks great. The unfortunate weak point is the story. All the plot elements seem to fall into place too easily and the final act, with its battle sequence, just feels out of place. The visuals are frequently amazing, but the path you take to experience them should have contained some more gravitas.
- Score
- 6/10
While on the subject of how things looked, the 3D aspects of the film deserve some mention. Burton reportedly decided that the cameras required to film in 3D were too awkward and cost-prohibitive and had the live action parts of his film converted from 2D into 3D for the final product. This inevitably causes a substandard (and sometimes headache-inducing) 3D experience that can’t possibly compare to something as unobtrusive and completely immersive as Avatar. Cameron’s film is the only one that has gotten three-dimensions exactly right… though, to be fair, I don’t recall any of the traditional 3D artifacts in Aliens v. Monsters. In a select few number of scenes, Alice in Wonderland works exceptionally well in 3D, but the story isn't enhanced that much as a whole.
"though I can’t recall either
"though I can’t recall either reading the book or watching the Disney cartoon as a child. As an adult, I actually own multiples copies of the book, but I still have never read it."
Why did you get this assignment then?
Or choose it.
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 16:23 · Paula