(courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures)
In a land where heads fill a moat, animals are used as slaves and big heads are in style, Wonderland has been revamped Tim Burton style.
Remaking another childhood classic, Burton disregards the story and creates an entirely new “Alice in Wonderland.”
Unlike the classic Disney version, this Alice is set 10 years after Alice’s first visit to Wonderland, and this is a new dream for Alice, who can’t seem to remember the old one.
Alice (Mia Wasikowska) has been brought back by the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to be her champion against the evil Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). Along the way, she runs into the Mad Hatter, (Johnny Depp) who helps in Alice’s quest.
Burton rounds up the usual gang of bizarre English actors, including Christopher Lee, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall, who play cameos for a Hollywood paycheck as the Jabberwocky, the Caterpillar and Bayard, a bloodhound.
3D is perfect for Burton’s vision of Wonderland. It captures all the colors and characters perfectly and the audience feels as if they’re right there with Alice.
Everything about this movie is magical, and captivating, except for one key element—the script.
Written by Linda Woolverton, the script fails to capture the essence of Wonderland. It has great jokes, fun quirks and an air of Tim Burton, but it can’t make up for boring battle scene after battle scene. Within the first 30 minutes, it’s obvious how it will end. The script could have spent time developing the new world that the audience has been thrown into, instead of the same fight scenes over and over, sprinkled with little bits of humor along the way.
Alice’s wardrobe is also entertaining. The film is an angst-ridden teen’s nightmare, full of different outfits.
As always, Carter and Depp are magnificent, perfectly capturing their characters. They steal the movie, but even Carter can’t save the film from its mundane script and predictable ending.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Brigid Igoe at Brigid.igoe@colorado.edu.
