Film Review: Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Director: Tim Burton

I was never a fan of the original animated version...in fact, im not sure if I ever saw it. Nor did I ever read the book, so I went into this movie not knowing the plot or origin or anything. I viewed it as if it were an original story. That being said, i found the movie gimmicky and overall poor in quality

the plot was about a girl named Alice, an imaginative girl out of place in her 19th century England. After being proposed to, she falls down the rabbit hole and finds herself in wonderland (they called it something else, but i couldnt tell)

From there on, we are introduced to numerous characters who's names I cant remember, most of whom are unmemorable. Johnny Depp does a great job as the Mad hatter, and Helen Bonham Carter does a good job as the Red Queen.

Im sure the book held great imagery and had a great message, but I found the film to be immensely typical. Alice at first believes she is in a dream, because all of what she sees has only been seen in dreams and is all impossible. But of course in the end she realizes her father was right and even the impossible is possible, she achieves her destiny, the mad hatter falls in love with her, they beat the red queen, and they all live happily ever after.

In other words, boring. It failed to make me care if Alice won.

The film had a great array of unrealistic visuals. The animated people clashed with some of the human actors, and none of the CGI was overly impressive considering where the market is at n0w. The film felt and looked like the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, without the excuse of being made several years ago. In fact, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe had much better visuals because it attempted a sort of realism, something Tim Burton has never cared for, and, until now, had not been a problem.

The worst part of this was the way it had clearly relied on 3D visuals to enhance the film. Im sure in 3D the film looked and felt amazing, but in 2D it looked silly.

Overall Alice in Wonderland is a weak, but not dismally bad, film with a few good actors that is worth watching if you have nothing better to do or if you, like the people i watched it with, have a Johnny Depp Fetish

2/5