”Remember what the dormouse said; ‘Keep your head…keep your head.’”
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland has been sanitized over the years. Aside from Jan Svankmejer’s Alice, most versions lack the darker and tripper elements of the source material. Ironically, Disney (known for sanitizing many works of literature) decided to return to Carroll’s novels and wisely tapped Tim Burton to steer the ship. Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is part-remake, part-sequel with a script by Disney veteran Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) that combines elements from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel, Through the Looking Glass.
Years have passed since a young Alice fell down the rabbit hole. Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is now 20, practically a spinster according to her sister. About to be married off to a ridiculous looking ginger named Hamish (Leo Bill), Alice follows the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) once more and winds up back in Wonderland. However, this is the first time to her. Her original adventures have been reduced to the vaguest memories and a recurring nightmare. Alice is reunited with many of her old friends such as the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), the Caterpillar (Alan Rickman), and the twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas).
Wonderland (referred to by its inhabitants as Underland) has fallen under the tyrannical rule of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). She’s a petite woman with an enlarged head and fetishes for using animals as furniture and decapitations. The encephalitically enchanced Red Queen rules with fear due to her command of the monstrous Jabberwocky (Christopher Lee). Alice must find the mythical Vorpal Sword in order to slay the Jabberwocky and return the kingdom to its rightful monarch, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway).
As you’d expect, Burton has created a visually stunning film using a mixture of live-action, CGI, and motion capture. Burton’s vision of Wonderland is a gorgeous feast for the eyes. The film was shot in 2D then converted to 3D in post. The 3D effects are certainly stronger than those in Clash of the Titans, but the world doesn’t open up the way it does in Coraline. What’s missing from the film is heart. Without any sort of emotional pathos, Alice in Wonderland becomes an empty exercise in excess.
Burton has turned Carroll’s mythos into a superficial tale of girl power. As a result, Alice dips into the familiar conventions of fantasy epics like Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia. There’s a prophecy that must be fulfilled and Alice dons a suit of armor and clashes swords with the Red Queen’s army on a chess-themed battlefield. All of which feels out of place.
The performances are somewhat uneven. As Alice, Mia Wasikowska gives a strong showing even while her more fantastical cast mates attempt to steal every scene. In his seventh film with Burton, Depp creates yet another in a long line of eccentric characters. His Mad Hatter is a schizo speaking with a dandy lisp one moment and a deep Braveheart-style Scottish accent in another. Britsh comedian Stephen Fry gets some of the film’s best moments as the voice of an erudite Chesire Cat. Burton’s paramour Helena Bonham Carter makes for an excellent villain playing the Red Queen as an ill-tempered brat. This is in stark contrast to Anne Hathaway as the flighty White Queen. Gleaming in pure white, she’s an ultra-heightened rendition of the Disney Princess archetype.
An A-list cast and dazzling effects make Alice in Wonderland a worthwhile effort undone by a third act lacking in gravitas.
Rating: ** ½
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