Alice In Wonderland

Kicking off my first movie review, I chose Tim Burton's update of Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel Alice In Wonderland.

Director, writer, producer Tim Burton takes a usually dark stab at re-creating one of the most timeless, poignant, and absurd childrens' classic of all time. But, has this incredibly inventive director completely missed his mark. Indeed, in this case, he has. Don't get me wrong, from a cinematic standpoint, the grandeur of the film made most of it worth it; however, the attempt at rebooting the plot hurt the film overall more than it helped it. What this film does stand as an excellent example of, is how excessive CGI and motion capture can truly detract from the acting in the film. The always charming Johnny Depp (who seemed the best candidate to play a creep-ified version of the Mad Hatter) seemed much less a part of the role than usual. In fact, most of this movie seemed to be a bunch of talent just phoning it in. The true gem that was lost in the excessive rubble of this film was Helena Bonham Carter, Director Burton's wife. Her shrill and deviously executed Queen of Hearts was simply too perfect for the rest of the film. Yet, despite all the reasons I have not to recommend this movie, I didn't have a terrible time watching it. Although the film grew awfully absurd (probably due to the Disney-Burton collaboration) I had this deep down feeling that somewhere in a clearly marked grave, Lewis Carroll was smirking at the level of discomfort the film caused as did the original novel in his head on disembarkation from the morality drenched childrens' novels of the 19th century. At the end of the film, as Depp's Hatter finally begins Futterwacken (a repeatedly referenced form of Wonderland Hip-hop dancing) I desperately wished the film was more like the well acted and well directed prologue. However, the film should at least be given a chance to any person who has or hasn't read the original text.