ALICE IN WONDERLAND REVIEW

Ever since I knew that this film was going to be made I instantly got excited about it. You have quite possibly my favourite director making a story which is perfect for his style of film making. Not only that, but the film is in 3D. Nightmare Before Christmas was glorious enough in 3D (before anyone says anything I know Tim Burton didn’t direct the film) but I could hardly wait to see this.

As a lot of people will know there is a huge debate about 3D and how some people see it as a great step forward for the film industry. Take for example James Cameron who has taken 3D to a new level with Avatar. James Cameron used the technology to his advantage and look where it’s got him. The last time I checked the showings of Avatar were still full houses. Whereas other people see it as more of a gimmick and just wait for it to get tired and old. For example film critic Mark Kermode sees it as a huge gimmick and sees films as My Bloody Valentine as good examples of how to use 3D to get a cheap thrill.

I agree with the people like James Cameron where if used properly can be used as a brilliant and effective tool for film makers. Since seeing films in 3D I can see the careful work that has gone into these films. For example the shot in Up where Carl is dragging the house at sunset and everything is in silouette. Beautiful shot and captured perfectly in 3D and hopefully I will get the same awe inspired feeling when I eventually see that shot again in Blu Ray.

So after a long and exhausting wait for this film did it live up to my high expectations that I have come to expect with a Tim Burton film? Well, this isn’t Tim Burton’s best film to date but a very enjoyable film. In my group that went to see this film last night there was mixed opinions of this film. I can see how people wouldn’t like this film but it was just a nicely paced, easy going, pretty on the eyes film.

I’m guessing by now we know the classic story of Alice in Wonderland. Which is the first reason why I enjoyed this version because it is not just the original story. This also has parts of Through the Looking Glass in it too so you are given something of both. To give a quick description of the plot it’s basically Alice keeps having dreams of her journey into Wonderland and she has restless nights because of this. Soon enough she sees the White Rabbit at a party that she gets dragged to and she then ends up in the place in her dreams. We then meet all of the characters we love and she is told that she must save them from the Red Queen as she has pretty much killed the world. During all of this Alice doesn’t believe she is the Alice they are all talking about. So she must find herself again and we are then taken on the journey. I won’t tell you anymore as I don’t want to spoil it for you.

The first thing I will say is Tim Burton needs to get away from Disney quickly as they seem to be stopping Tim use all of his ideas in his film. The reason I say this is because at times I find that the film was Disneyfied so it doesn’t scare the kids too much. You can see the Burton stamps on the landscapes and things but I think some of the characters were changed to be a bit more fluffy. One of the characters in my opinion that had some quick changes by Disney was the March Hare as he pretty much looks like a crack addict. But I think Disney saw that and made a few changes so he doesn’t look too scary for the kiddies.

Besides that I think this film was a treat for my eyes. The art direction of the film was amazing and I was immersed in Wonderland. The character designs were top notch most noticeable of all was the Cheshire Cat. The animations, the voice basically everything about that character was perfect. I will probably have hoards of women shouting at their PC screens when they read this but in my opinion Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Depp usually stands out when he is on screen but in this film he seemed to melt into the landscape in this. Don’t get me wrong Depp was good as usual but he didn’t jump out at me like he’s done in his other films. As said before the best character in this film for me was the Cheshire Cat and Stephen Fry’s voice was too perfect for the character. I wish they would have featured the Cheshire Cat in the film more.

The casting in this film is perfect because too be honest there isn’t a character in this film that I didn’t like even though Depp didn’t jump out at me like he usually does he still did a fine job. One thing I was a little disappointed about was that Christopher Lee’s Jabberwocky only got two lines. The Jabberwocky was awesome enough when it finally appeared on screen then when it opend it’s mouth and Christopher Lee’s powerful voice came out it was all too perfect. Short but definatley sweet!

So to summarise this film was a treat but not quite up to Tim’s standard but still a cracking good film. If this film was not made with Disney I can only imagine how this film might have looked. I think the main reason why this film hasn’t been getting the good reviews that it does deserve is because people have come expect certain codes and conventions of a Tim Burton film. I mean look at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that good simular reviews to this only because it was too bright and colourful. Look at Edward Scissorhands, that is very bright and colourful film most of the time. Yet people say Tim Burton never does bright and colourful films? I would definatley recommend this to people but do in with the 12 year emo opinion of a Tim Burton film: “it’s gonna be all dark so it matches my dark emo soul!”.

Until next time don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Won’t leave ya much!