Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland is an easily commendable film. It has elaborate scenery (which is Tim Burton's specialty), it's dark, and it's pretty weird. The movie is not really a remake of the various other Alice's in Wonderland, but rather a sequel to the Disney 1950's version. In that version, Alice was a child who underwent all of the strange experiences of wonderland. This 2010 version seems to want to convince us that Alice has forgotten her original trip, and in her teenage years (forced to wed someone she doesn't want to) she regresses and returns to Wonderland. This is an interesting idea, but the movie makes a few missteps. The worst of these is that even though it's a sequel, many scenes seem to just be the live-action shot-by-shot replica's of scenes from the 50's movie. Also, the movie can be too silly, like when Alice expounds her individuality by doing a silly little jig. Yet another problem is the ubiquitous fight scene at the end, where it's war in wonderland! It's jumbled, silly, and weird. Now, the scenery is quite amazing, but how stupid is it for a master like Burton to use pretty much the same damn scenery for every scene of the entire film! Not like in last years Avatar where every scene had its own specific tinge of creativity. I also mention that Mia Wasikowska is very good in the movie, and Depp is slightly disappointing as a much too nice and not very mad Mad-Hatter. The story of Alice in Wonderland is fine, and there is a lot to like in the middle of the film, near the end it starts to make a lot of mistakes, but it's solid, but not great by any stretch of the imagination.

Alice in Wonderland: ★★★