ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010)

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010)

Tagline: We Are All Mad Here.

(Action, Adventure, Don’t Do Drugs) [PG]

I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.

So once in a while, I will run across someone who says that ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS was a completely unnecessary film. Especially given that it came out 6 years after this one. However, when you look at it strictly from a money perspective, I can see why they wanted to tell more of this story. The 2010 ALICE IN WONDERLAND movie made $1 billion worldwide and at the time was only the 6th movie to do so. It joined the likes of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, TITANIC, AVATAR, and THE DARK KNIGHT. 

In this one, we get an almost completely new story with elements borrowed from the books. Alice (played by Mia Wasikowska) is 19 years old and about to get married when she once again falls into a rabbit hole into the magical world of what she once called “Wonderland”. Things are still pretty dark as the Red Queen has expanded her reign of terror via fear and a crazy freakin dragon on crack looking creature known as the Jabberwocky. Can Alice restore Wonderland to some semblance of peace…is she even the “right” Alice? 

First off, the performances in this movie are all over the top brilliant. I do think that Johnny Depp’s over-the-top version of The Mad Hatter is sometimes a bit much, but he still manages to pull it off and it’s not nearly as weird as his version of Willy Wonka. It’s also not as good as his role as Donald Trump in Funny Or Die’s satirical TV movie DONALD TRUMP’S THE ART OF THE DEAL: THE MOVIE which is a lot like YOGA HOSERS in the sense that you can’t really tell it’s him. The Mad Hatter is overly gruff at times, but they do paint reasons for that in the storyline. Helena Bonham Carter is so epic as the Red Queen that it’s probably my favorite role of hers ever next to her playing Ophelia in HAMLET. Anne Hathaway is good as the White Queen and Crispin “You Get Your Damn Hands Off Of Her” Glover (best known as Marty’s dad in BACK TO THE FUTURE) is really solid as Stayne – Knave Of Hearts. Mia Wasikowska is also awesome as Alice. Apparently, she beat out Lindsey Lohan and Amanda Seyfried for the role which was originally reportedly meant for Frances Bean Cobain (Kurt Cobain’s daughter). We also get Alan Rickman voicing Absolem. His last role was actually in the sequel to this movie. This movie was Michael Gough’s (most famous for being Alfred in the 80’s and 90’s BATMAN films) final role. 

Visually this damn thing is freakin over the top. Everything from the Red Queen’s castle to the design of just about everything is completely nuts. Burton really has an eye for bringing something completely bizarre to the screen. This script adds depth to the characters we’ve known while introducing some new ideas and an actual backstory. This isn’t just Alice wandering around trying to get home, it’s solid story telling. The score is perfection and the color pallet is spell-binding. This is the movie that actually made me want to purchase a certain TV for my son. It just looked that amazing. I do feel bad for the actors in the sense that more and more movies are so green screen heavy meaning the actors not only have to use their acting skills but also imagine almost everything around them. 

I have to give ALICE IN WONDERLAND a 6 out of 7. It’s not completely perfect but it introduces some really great messages and it’s one I never regret watching.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.  

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