Film Review: 'Alice In Wonderland'

'Alice In Wonderland' is a new live action Disney film directed by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Anne Hathaway, Lindsay Duncan, Marton Csokas, Stephen Fry and Michael Sheen.

Tim Burton is one of my favourite directors for his darker take on storytelling. I really enjoyed his earlier films like Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. However, when I heard that he was doing Alice In Wonderland, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I figured I'd be disappointed somehow.

I've been reading some online reviews and it would seem that many people don't like this movie ... but I don't agree. As with most things Burton, I really enjoyed it.

This version of Alice In Wonderland was children's fairy tale, done in Tim Burton's inimitable style: bright, stylised, fun, colourful, and entertaining. The plot may not have been the most complex ever invented, but I don't think it needed to be - the simple 'heroic destiny' plot was enough story for the movie's run time, and if you cram too much in there, people begin to lose track. And no, it wasn't Alice as we know her - it was Alice revisited. I'll own that it had its darker moments, but I liked that about it. Probably my only real problem with this movie (besides the simple plot) was the obviousness of each character's allegiance - they were either red (bad) or white (good?).

I particularly enjoyed Johnny Depp's take on the Mad Hatter (though, from reading reviews, I may be the only one who did) - who was, indeed, quite mad, but had his moments of almost clarity, making him slightly more believable; and also Stephen Fry, who was brilliant as the Cheshire Cat. I thought Helena Bonham Carter was very good as the petulant Red Queen, along with Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit, Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, Alan Rickman (who practically guarantees quality) as the Caterpillar, and even Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, who managed to pull off her ethereal queen with the faintest undercurrent of nastiness.

I only saw the movie in 2D, not 3D, but I don't think that it detracted from the experience at all.