By Chris Engelhardt
Johnny Depp stars in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Credit: xploitme, via Flickr
If you plan on tumbling down the rabbit hole, by all means, tumble away. On second thought, dive in.
Master visionary Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland—his version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass—stands as yet another feat for the director.
Nineteen-year-old Alice (Mia Wasikowska) possesses an unmatched inquisitiveness about the world and those around her. It’s the very trait that leads her back to Wonderland. During a posh royal gathering, a conspicuously out-of-place White Rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen) catches Alice’s eye. “Curiouser and curiouser,” she gives chase, and ends up peering down a hole in the earth. To no surprise, she falls in and ends up in Wonderland, where she is soon re-acquainted with old friends, including the Blue Caterpillar (voiced by Alan Rickman), Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the Cheshire Cat (voiced by Stephen Fry) and the outlandish Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Red Queen’s (Helena Bonham Carter) takeover of Wonderland, which was once ruled by her sister—the White Queen (Anne Hathaway)—has left everyone hopelessly in fear. That is, until they learn of Alice’s destiny to put an end to the Red Queen’s reign of power. But when the Red Queen hears of Alice’s return—and her destiny to de-throne her—the queen sends her militia to apprehend Alice. It’s only a matter of time before the forces of both queens collide, with the fate of Wonderland resting in Alice’s hands.
It’s no wonder Alice thinks she’s in a dream—Wonderland runs wild with gardens of overflowing red roses, oversized mushrooms and spectacular landscapes. Alice in Wonderland is a dazzling 3-D experience. Burton has a reputation for his cinematic scenery, and Wonderland—a colorful, imaginative and surreal world—is no exception. From his dark and dreary Sleepy Hollow, to his bright, bold and beautiful Big Fish, Burton continues to produce some of the most vivid images to hit theaters today.
The screenplay by Linda Woolverton (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast) maintains enough humor, bound to fill the corners of theaters with chuckles. “You used to be much more…‘muchier.’ You’ve lost your muchness,” the Mad Hatter tells Alice in one scene. Woolverton is also smart enough to give all of the story’s characters their due, so as to utilize the entire cast and not make Alice the entire focus of the film.
Sure, we’re meant to take the characters on a name-only basis, and the story isn’t the most compelling. No matter. Burton’s visuals compensate when the story falters, and his fantasy breathes because of its actors. Johnny Depp, here with exorcist-eyes, puffy red hair and a snazzy bow-tie, nails it as the hat-loving, odd-ball Mad Hatter. His performance is priceless, and Depp only continues to prove time and time again his versatility and excellent range as an actor, forever immersing himself in challenging and diverse roles. Helena Bonham Carter is a blast as the big-headed (literally) Red Queen, and Mia Wasikowska pulls off the role of Alice almost effortlessly and effectively, taking charge and carrying the movie when fixated on her alone.
This marks the seventh collaboration between Burton and Depp, who never cease to amaze as one of today’s best director/actor teams. In Hollywood, which continues to re-use and recycle cliché storylines and remake untouchable classics in the hope of quick cash-ins, it’s refreshing to see the talented duo taking risks. Their endeavors—always sincere—rarely go unnoticed. That’s undeniable talent. We can only hope they continue to do what they do best. Hopefully they don’t go mad in the process.
Grade: B+
This article was originally published on Suite101.com: http://www.suite101.com/content/alice-in-wonderlandmovie-review-a211100
Chris Engelhardt 