Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Director Tim Burton, no stranger to madness on the big screen, has twisted the Lewis Carroll classic into the story of an awkward teenage girl who finds her strength in crazy circumstances. We liked it. Sometimes warped, sometimes faithful to the original, the movie is rated PG but I (and Allison, among others) thought it a bit too violent for kids under 13. Jack (and Amy, who also saw it opening afternoon but in another state) disagree, saying it wasn't that nasty.

I've been wondering why I have procrastinated when we both thought it was good. I suspect it's because there have been a lot of bad reviews, which make me sad and give too much weight to what is merely entertainment, and the completion of a trinity of winter fantasy movies. If you haven't started, I would suggest seeing The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus first, then this one, and finish with Avatar, because Burton's and Terry Gilliam's special effects can't compete with the millions and millions that went into Mr. Cameron's opus.

As we settled into our seats, I suddenly remembered that there was an IMAX option, which was not the showing we had chosen and I wonder if 2D (its original format, unlike Avatar which originated in 3D) might be just as satisfying as long as your theatre has a good print and screen. I also wonder if the colors might be even more vivid in 2D. When it comes out on cable I will surely take a look.

I've been a fan of Burton since Beetle Juice (1988), and also loved Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), and Sleepy Hollow (1999), among others. He chose a wonderful empowered Alice in Mia Wasikowska, whom I don't remember from Amelia nor Defiance (apparently Amanda Seyfried was in the running and Lindsay Lohan wanted the part--that would have been a different movie). Wasikowska has a most expressive face, and speaks volumes with a twitch of her lip. However, most will go to this movie to see Johnny Depp (one of Heath Ledger's alter-egos in Imaginarium; I wrote about him at some length in Public Enemies). Be forewarned: his Mad Hatter speaks some of the time with a lisp, some of the time with a thick Scottish accent, and most of the time is a wee bit difficult to understand (another reason I'll look forward to seeing it on the small screen with closed captions). Helena Bonham Carter (worked with Depp and Burton on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and I loved Novocaine (2001), The Wings of the Dove (1997), and Mighty Aphrodite (1995), the latter in which she joined the ranks of fine actresses whom Woody Allen directed to sound just like Mia Farrow, and more) is brilliant as the evil Red Queen and Anne Hathaway (favorites: Brokeback Mountain (2005), Devil Wears Prada (2006), and Rachel Getting Married) terrific as the affected White Queen. It was nice to see Crispin "Hellion" Glover (George McFly in the first Back to the Future (1985), Andy Warhol in The Doors (1991)) playing it pretty straight, although he was stretched with a computer to be very tall, as the tiny Red Queen's scarred Knave of Hearts. I wish I had researched the voices before seeing the movie, so I would have known, for example, that Bayard the dog is voiced by the wonderful Timothy Spall (Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), and The Damned United, among much fine work), The White Rabbit by Michael Sheen (see Damned United), and the Cheshire Cat by Stephen Fry (Hugh Laurie's former writing and comedy partner, Peter in Peter's Friends (1992), which co-starred and was co-written by Rita Rudner, Oscar Wilde in Wilde (1997), and Sellers' psychic Maurice Woodruff in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)). "Chessie" was my favorite not only for his lines, but also for his sinuous floating and his lack of frenzy. The Caterpillar was voiced by Alan Rickman (ones to see: Truly Madly Deeply (1990), Bob Roberts (1992), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Winter Guest (1997), Love Actually (2003), and Bottle Shock), whose voice I recognized quickly. Many, many actors did fine jobs onscreen and in voice/CG work. Adapted screenplay writer Linda Woolverton is no stranger to Disney, having written or co-written Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Lion King (1994), and parts of Mulan (1998).

As a child I loved the record of the 1951 animated Disney musical Alice (yes, it was vinyl. I no longer own it but it's available as an MP3 download from amazon) and still remember all the songs. None of them is in this movie, but frequent Burton composer Danny Elfman's (some my non-Burton faves: both Men in Black(s) (1997, 2002), 3 Spider-Man(s) (2002, 4, 7), Hulk (2003), Milk) score is top-notch as usual, and a lot of it is posted on youtube. We hoped for, nay, expected a bonus at the end of the credits, but there was none, despite the ending which suggests further adventures. The movie is a manageable length at 108 minutes. You will have a good time.