(3D) Alice in Underland – sorry I mean Wonderland don’t I?

So here we are again sitting in the cinema alone, a habit I’m actually getting quite used to, it’s actually quite satisfying and relaxing, although that might be me just kidding myself. 

I haven’t read the original book, so my only source of reference is the original animated Disney version, which I haven’t seen for years (honest); however I will do my best for you. So here it is, the greatly anticipated Alice In Wonderland certificate PG (which makes it a bit weird that I’m here on my own, however, there are no children anywhere to be seen oddly enough!) we haven’t seen much of Tim Burton Producing and Directing since Mars Attacks, and I’ll probably annoy quite a few of you when I say I hated that film, a lot of people like it using the logic it’s so bad it’s good, but I’m afraid that logic does not cut with me. Just prior to that however he did have James and the Giant Peach which was a good film, and so was Edward Scissor Hands. Burton Certainly has a taste for weird and wonderful so lets what he does with this….

Ok so my first thought (beside’s the ridiculously priced ticket (see below) was that there was far too much hype surrounding this film, but it was inevitably going to get some. Not only was Tim Burton back and working on a “remake” (I’ll explain in a sec) of a children’s classic, but we also have Johnny Depp back in yet another role of a crazy person. Last time this happened was with Charlie and the Chocolate factory, which frankly was a pile of chocolate coloured waste, and was only really saved by Depp’s performance. In this film Depp plays the Mad Hatter, and isn’t really in it enough for the film to rest completely on his shoulders, so the rest of the cast, mainly Mia Wasikowska (Alice) really do have to hold there own. 

So why did I say “remake”? Well, it soon becomes clear that this is really a sequel to the original film. The film we know and loved as children has already happened, and this film is set thirteen years later. The older Alice (now nineteen, but looks about 12), has somehow forgotten all about the events of the first film and instead has a reoccurring dream, featuring a rabbit in a waistcoat, a blue caterpillar and a cat that smiles. This whole concept irritates me throughout. All the other characters are familiar with who Alice is, and she has no idea who any of them are, and as we follow Alice through the “Underland” (I know, pointless if you ask me) we are introduced to them as if for the first time. Although I can see the logic in this concept – having an older Alice not only allows the audience to relate to her, but also makes the action sequences more believable – I’m just not sure I buy it; I would have been more forgiving if this was the first time Alice had been to the “Underland” and the film makers simply made Alice older in this version. Nevertheless this is the concept we have, so we’ve just got to go with it.

The film takes about 20 – 30 minutes to actually get going, the build up to “Underland” (yes I’m going to keep doing “that”) takes far too long and is pretty boring. When we eventually get there, although it was very amusing to see Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, both played by Matt Lucas, I still felt like I was waiting for something. Eventually the pace of the film changes once we meet the Mad Hatter – surprise, surprise.

Depp’s performance as the Mad Hatter is brilliant without question, and any scene with him and the March Hare are very entertaining. Shortly after meeting the crazy couple, Alice’s adventures move her on and despite the lack of Depp – the pace continues. Wasikowska certainly seems comfortable and very capable of playing the title role, up until this point atleast, I can only blame the script and direction for failing to excite me, not Wasikowska’s portrayal as Alice.

In fact all the performances are superb, Helena Bonham Carter is very believable as the Red Queen, who seems rather like Queeny from Black Adder. As mentioned before Matt Lucas is very funny as the Tweedles, and all the voice actors, featuring, Stephen Fry as Chesire Cat, Alan Rickman as Blue Caterpillar and Barbra Windsor as Dormouse, to just name a few, are all excellent. By the end of the film I’d even bought into the concept and actually felt fairly satisfied by the end.

However before you all sit there thinking, “Here we go again, another film the Russell loved…” I still felt disappointed by it, and I can’t really put my finger on why. I eventually bought the concept (sort of), the film is visually stunning (although there’s surprisingly hardly any use of 3D), and the performances are all brilliant, but I still somehow feel let down. It just seems to be missing something, it simply didn’t excite me enough and although all the performances were great, I didn’t really care for any of the characters.

So what do I rate the film? And I’m sticking to the “Out of Ten” system for now. If I was rating the performances it would be a very high score however the film as a whole is getting a disappointing 6.5 – 7 (or 6.75 – couldn’t quite decide between the two) out of 10. Good film but you may as well wait for it to come out on DVD or Bluray – it’ll be bloody cheaper that way anyway!

Russ x