Movie Review: “Alice In Wonderland”
After watching Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, I wish Burton would have gulped down some of that “drink me” magic shrinking potion himself. At times, Wonderland was gorgeous, but by the film’s end it felt too big — especially on IMAX.
Maybe it’s just me, but the 3D was blurry and choppy at times, and the depth of field sometimes appeared jacked. While the foreground often looked fantastic, the background often looked like garbage. The motion wasn’t smooth and seamless either. When compared to Cameron’s Avatar, Alice in Wonderland‘s 3D appeared rushed and B-rate. I often found myself wishing I wasn’t watching the film in 3D, a feeling I never once got while I was immersed in the world of Pandora. Maybe non-Imax viewers had a completely different experience? I doubt it.
At the same time, while a lot of the CGI and production design was distinctly Burton at his best, the film’s visuals fell short at times. The Jabberwocky looked terrible. It looked like something out of Beetlejuice, which was a film that actually looked quite good during its day. The battle between the Red and White Queens’ armies was generic, uninspired stock footage we’ve seen in at least 20 other big-budget battle sequences (and most of those looked considerably better). At that point, I almost wanted to fall on the vorpal sword. A delightful two-hour fantasy flick with a snappy script and quality performances from most of its cast, had completely fallen on its face during its final 20 minutes. I liked it better before it ate the “eat me” cake that made it too big for its britches, er, dress.
Sure, the back-to-reality dénouement was brisk, fun and witty, nearly saving the day. Still, that didn’t erase the fact that Burton and screenwriter Linda Wolverton reached the climax and got stumped. “Hey, we can’t really nail this ending, so why don’t we just slap together a huge-ass battle and distract the audience.” We’ve seen so many battle sequences that it takes something truly extraordinary to wow us at this point. It’s almost like the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, for all you basketball fans out there. You get the feeling that we’ve already seen just about everything that can be done. I would have liked to have seen more of a focus on the Alice-Jabberwocky duel. Between the graphics and the choreography (especially on that cliff thingamajiggy), it looked more like Alice in Wonderland the video game than what you’d expect from story-oriented vets like Burton and Wolverton.
Now, on to the good, er, frabjous. Burton’s domestic Partner, Helena Bonham Carter, stole the frickin’ show as the Red Queen. Anybody who thinks she got this role simply because she’s Burton’s squeeze needs to quit hitting the the Oraculum’s hookah. Her performance was as big as her character’s “bulbous” dome. Johnny Depp was — predictably, but in a good way — an absolute riot. Crispin Glover was his usual creepy self as the Knave of Hearts. As for the film’s star, Mia Wasikowska, her character might not of known right away that she was the right Alice, but the filmmakers sure as hell did. If there’s a reason this film works, it’s because she worked so well as a reinvented, grown-up Alice. She nailed the idealism and individualism of Alice, in both the real world and the one that begins deep down in that rabbit hole.
Speaking of that oft-mentioned crevice, I’m sure I will want to stumble down into it again here in a few years once I’ve forgotten its wonders, just as Alice did. That being said, my love for this version of the Carroll classic ranks somewhere between how Alice felt about Hamish, her goofy red-headed suitor, and the Hatter. I’m certainly not “thinking of six impossible things before breakfast” bonkers for this flick.
