Alice In Wonderland Review

I saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in 3D the other day, and left the cinema feeling a little underwhelmed. In the hours that have passed since, I find myself with a far stronger opinion about the film that a British critic recently referred to as a "bums in the air fiasco" with a lead actress who "looked like she was on heroin".



With a deathly slow beginning, Alice inevitably tumbles down the rabbit hole to discover dodgy CGI, some poor usage of the 3D technology, and some really sub-par performances from otherwise excellent actors. The only people who fare well are the pure CGI characters voiced by some quality British thesps-particularly Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit and the wonderful Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat. Fry's voicing of Ches is pitch-perfect, and the film's real shining light. Johnny Depp, however, fares poorly with a caricature so heavily made up that he does not so much as disappear into the character, as he does get entirely buried. Depp's Hatter is insane in a way that is not humourous, not interesting, and criminally boring. Easily his worst to date. That said, I suppose even the best of the best are allowed a rare miss from time to time, so I can't hold it against him (too much).



It's unfortunate because Tim Burton is capable of so much better. I don't need to list a bunch of films that he's done that are better than Alice-go on imdb.com and choose any from the list. The set designs, the gnarled up gothic trees... it should have been an amazing aesthetic. But I suppose having seen other Tim Burton films, the set pieces and the environment just felt flat and predictable. You will see nothing in this film that Tim Burton has not done before.



Worst of all is the leading lady, I'm afraid. At the forefront of the film, Mia Wasikowska is the movie's cold, dead heart. She has no presence, generates no sympathy or interest, and really does look like she's coming down off a huge weekend of mad clubbing with the aid of a disco biscuit or three. It's such a shame because it's always nice to see a fellow Aussie doing well in Hollywood... fingers crossed that she fares better in Jane Eyre opposite Michael Fassbender.



So... yeah. All in all it really sucked for me... way more in retrospect than it did at the time. That said there is an upside... we have officially proven that 3D filmmaking does not replace good storytelling. I would have been far happier paying for a 2D experience with a lead actress who didn't feel like a boring abyss of cold despair... but then again that's probably just me being picky.



Laters.



E.

Reference: http://alondoncityblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/alice-in-wonderland-review.html