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- First reviewMarch 24, 2010
- Last reviewMarch 24, 2010
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Morganperidot's Reviews
Overall rating
5
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5
Loved it
PostedMarch 24, 2010
Morganperidot
The Underland of Alice in Wonderland is not Tim Burton's first wonderous creation. One need look no farther than such films as Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Sweeney Todd to see the others.
With each of his films Burton has created a world of its own, holding his audience enraptured with everything from brilliant colors and engaging camerawork to characters brimming with loneliness, alienation, and despair and yet always the hint of hope. These films are bound not only by Buron's consistent use of the same actors and behind-the-scenes personnel but also by his consistency of themes, imagery, and emotional depth.
Alice in Wonderland, the timeless text that has been reinterpreted numerous times through the years since first told by the man using the pen name Lewis Carroll, is a good match for Burton and his world-creating skills. Burton's Underland is gorgeously beautiful with amazing colors and enticing images everywhere the eye can see, reminiscent of both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Edward Scissorhands. Burton weaves a new tale of an adult Alice who returns to Underland after forgetting her journey there as a child. The story, camerawork, music, and acting blend together seamlessly to form a truly amazing and engaging wonderland.
And this wonderland is truly Burton's to its core, including an homage to the title character of Edward Scissorhands by way of the topiary sculptures that are seen from Alice's first entry into Underland and most prominently in front of the Red Queen's castle in the shape of her head. There are other tips of the hat to Burton's oeuvre, most notably the "cat signal" of the disappeared Cheshire Cat's eyes and grin in the night sky that reflects the Bat Signal of Burton's early Batman films.
Johnny Depp's turn as the Mad Hatter brings with it flashes of his last collaboration with Burton, such as the moments of near violent fury that escape from the tormented Hatter at various times during the film that remind one of the dark anger of Sweeney Todd. Though Alice is the core of the film, the Hatter is its true emotional center, it's tormented soul, and Burton's avatar in the world of the film. Depp's portrayal is more well-rounded than the trailers would indicate, and his strong, charismatic performance commands the screen whenever his character is shown.
This takes nothing away from the strength of Mia Wasikowska as the title character; she holds her own with Depp and has the ability to pull off Alice's transformation from troubled young woman to heroine of the film. Helena Bonham Carter also gives a lively turn as the vicious Red Queen, and the animals are charming. The weakest link in the cast may be Anne Hathaway as the White Queen; her performance is as colorless as the white around her and tepid as well.
There are many themes woven through the story of Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Strongest perhaps are the theme of madness being the better choice than normalcy and of accepting that the impossible most often is possible. In Burton's worlds those who are individuals against the norm, who achieve the impossible because they do not believe it is so, stand as the heroes against the tide of standard mediocrity. This film is an epic of both external and internal discovery, and I highly recommend it.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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