My views on Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'

Film-Alice in Wonderland

Director-Tim Burton

Cast-Mia Wasikowska,Johnny Depp,Helena Bonham Carter,Anne Hathaway,Krispin Glover,Alan Rickman (voice),Stephen Fry (voice),Matt Lucas (voice)


I don't think there's any way that Tim Burton can go wrong with the visual treatment of a film. Alice in Wonderland looks,& feels amazingly brilliant.The old story of the girl falling down a hole following a rabbit unknowingly entering the fantasy world of 'underland' written by Lewis Carroll still holds strong.

Something like 'Alice' is tailor made for Burton. As anything unusually good-looking has earned the title of being called 'Burton-esque'.So not surprisingly the art direction dept.scores brownie points.



PERFORMANCES:-

Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen with a humongous bulbous face absolutely steals the show.She's one actress who has an arresting presence no matter what role she's playing.It's been a while since i've seen a caricaturish,story-bookish,rude,cruel & unjust Queen done this brilliantly.

Johnny Depp lives up to the acting standards that he has set for himself as the at times boisterous,at times subdued but always loyal Mad hatter. This ain't no Willy Wonka or Jack Sparrow caliber role but then again Depp like he has done on numerous occasions before induces mannerisms,movements,& speech which provide a personification to the iconic fictional character.

Anne Hathaway has little to do as the overly sophisticated white queen living in her pristine white castle but still manages to make a strong mark on your minds in the little screen time that she possesses & is brilliant as usual.

Unfortunately though the title character of Alice played by Mia Wasikowska does not invoke the desired response. Throughout the movie she seems a very confused & a somewhat meek character (which is ironical,as the story's based upon her).As the title character I expected a more convincing screen presence from her.


CGI:-

The visual effects look terrific,not for once looking out of place,rough or plastic (shame on you 'clash of the titans').The CGI characters look fantastic.The white rabbit,the dormouse,the blue caterpillar Absolem (brilliantly voiced by the ever dependable Alan Rickman) all look exceptional,but the 2 that absolutely stand out are the mumbling-bumbling fat twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas) & the sarcastically smiling furry Cheshire cat (Stephen Fry).


CONS:-

On the downside though I do agree that the narrative structure has been sacrificed (especially for the climax) Also I didn't feel much of an emotional connect with the film,as much as say compared to 'Big Fish' or 'Edward Scissorhands',both Burton masterpieces.Some sequences are really good like the Hatter & Alice talking on the balcony before the war or Hatter describing the atrocities committed by the Red Queen. But at other times it felt the story was going forward just for the sake of progressing.



3-D treatment:-

The 3-D treatment of the film is pretty good,& was aesthetically done (again unlike 'Clash').There's much fun to be had in scenes where Alice is falling down the hole,Absolem blowing smoke in Alice's (& our) face,& Alice's encounter with the little creatures popping up in front of our faces every now & then.

FINAL VERDICT:-

All in all 'Alice' is worth a trip to Wonderland :)