Alice is back to Wonderland, erhm...Underland (the term they used in the movie). So, just to inform you, this is not a remake. Alice who fell to he rabbit hole when she was just little, now is 19, and just about to be proposed by a local Lord. Somehow, she didn't remember anything about the Wonderland, but she always has this recurring nightmare over and over again. For her, all those dreams are not making any sense, until she met a rabbit holding a clock in her proposal day, which led her to the familiar hole. Once again, she fell into the rabbit hole, and back to the Underland, erhm...Wonderland.
Alice enters the Matrix
The first time I saw the trailer, all I can imagine it will be dark, less disney, and more Burton, with pale colors all over the place. Turns out Alice is full of wonderful and delightful colors, with every different spot of Wonderland presents different Aura, from the tea party garden, Red Queen's castle, or even the final battleground, where all these CG scenes represents imaginatively, the world of Wonderland. It's much more adventerous than 'Big Fish', not as dark as 'Sweeney Todd', but in the end, it's still the same freak show ala Burton (that's what my friend thinks about his works).
From the row of big star cast plus newbie (Mia Wasikowska as Alice), Helena Bonham Carter stole the show as spoiled and big headed Req Queen. As freak as Burton, her current husband (in case u don't know), she is the scene stealer where she perfectly charaterized the madness and Red Queen's huge ego. Depp, as always mesmerizing, although his acting is kinda Jack Sparrow repeater, sluggish and over-flamboyant body language. But his Mad Hatter character is a unique one, since his make up always changes accordingly to his current emotional state. The twins Tweedledee/Tweedledum (Matt Lucas) are also nice to watch, especially with their dialogues where they seem to complete each other sentences. Alan Rickman, as the heavily smoking caterpillar, played short, but a memorable one. Anne Hathaway, as the White Queen, kinda stupid but in a good way, still adorable though (that dark lipstick and white make up, so freakish). It's nice also to see Crispin Glover as Stayne the Knight, he's good when it comes to bad guys. Talking about the bad guys, there's Christopher Lee on the menu, as the intimidating but easily defeated Jabberwocky.
I need a pig here!
Any other noteable cast? Hmmm....oh yeah, Alice herself. Frankly, I thought the cartoon version was cuter and much more likeable then the grown up version, but maybe it's because she's 19, I suppose. In some scenes, I found it quite suprising to see her acting so calm with all her bizzare environment. I dunno whether it's lack of emotion or Alice was just plain cold, but she smirked a lot more than put a smile. Although in the latter part of the movie, she gave a tantalizing act by wearing armor and wielding sword. Wow, Alice the White Knight, never see that coming. But from my opinion, the problem is not Alice, but the Burton's story telling.
Mad Hatter handling sword..only in Burton's movie
Until half of the movie, there some parts which made me kinda bored (I even noticed some people went to sleep), because the early plot was kinda plain, no ups and downs. The pace it's not that slow, it's just all the introductory things Burton brought to us were somehow made me feel "oh let's just cut the the crap". In other words, lack of tension and suspense (hell yeah, I would expect that from a Burton's movie). Watching Burton's Alice is like you're having a grand dinner, but you're not full in the end. After watching the movie, I felt a bit empty and the whole Alice story telling is like losing her soul. The cartoon version was also strange and a bit quirky, but it sold well in term of story telling.
But I have to give thumbs up for Burton imaginative displaying of Wonderland, with all the aesthetics detail and vivid colors (especially in 3D). He also did a great job to bring the characters into modern life and for young (or I can even say, fresh) viewers who might haven't watched the Disney's classic. But in terms of delivering us the classic Alice into life, we might say he tends to confuse the young ones, and bores the adults. Great canvas, but not a great picture. (But somehow, it still manages to bank $116M in the first week)...
My Ratings: 7.5/10
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