Review of Alice in Wonderland (2010) by Joanna B — 28 Feb 2016

Tumble into the 3D kaleidoscope of brilliant colours, and you will find a fusion of Lew Carroll's dreamscape imagination and Tim Burton's inventive visualization.

Liberally weaving inspiration from both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Alice in Wonderland transfixes viewers with its hallucinatory mind-bending Burtonian style.

A dynamic marriage of original material and modern filmmaking, the film is infused with both dark and light elements, which lends the expanded story arch of Alice as an empowered feminist teen the power to whole heartedly embrace the mantra of "the only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible.".

The perspective altering enchantment of this topsy-turvy adventure is full of wonderfully crafted pieces, however, sometimes is seems a little lost in its own delirium and the collective piece resembles a home for abandoned ideas.

Twelve years on from her first dreamy trip into Wonderland, the now defiant 19 year old Alice Kingsley (Mia Wasikowska) is not content to live a life outside her control.

Upon attending a lavish garden reception, Alice is informed that she is to receive an arranged proposal from the dull and unappealing Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill) son of her late father's business partner.

Shocked, Alice flees to consider the unwelcomed request when she notices and willingly chases, a time obsessed white bunny in a waistcoat down a rabbit-hole.

Falling into a barren anteroom, where 'a sip makes her small, a morsel grows her tall' Alice continues to blindly accept her bizarre surroundings, growing and shrinking without apprehension.

Content in the idea that it is all a dream in which she can awake, Alice exits the room into the fantastical world of Underland.

Awaiting her arrival are some old (but unremembered) friends; a swashbuckling dormouse (Barbara Windsor), a Dodo bird (Michael Gough), matching village idiots Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas).

Unsure he has enticed the right Alice into Underland, The White rabbit takes the motley group to consult the perpetually puffing but wise blue Caterpillar Absolom (voiced by Alan Rickman).

Not quelled by Absolom's indifferent information, Alice is informed that she alone is the champion saviour Underland has been waiting for.

Along with her friends and the help of the jibber-jabbering eccentric Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) Alice must fulfil prophecy and make a stand against the evil and petulant Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).

Attempting to restoring order and sanity under the good White Queen (Anne Hathaway), Alice embarks of a journey of self-discovery breaking the Red Queen's reign of terror and singlehandedly taking on her dragonlike jabberwocky.

Burton, for the seventh time, brings the most out of his leading man. Depp's flamboyant personality embodies the sheer essence of the Mad Hatter. As some subtle touches and embellishments enhance the story, Carter's grotesquely bulbous CG enhanced Red Queen is somewhat distracting.

The wonderful supporting line up including Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Crispin Glover, and more give realism to the aquarium of bizarre creatures and depth to the psychology inferred.

The Verdict: With expectations high, sadly this film is as scatterbrained as its topic and the overall picture is less than the sum of its parts. Neither Burton's nor Depp's best work they should continue on 'the quest to find six impossible things before breakfast' including a story that they can really do justice.

Published: The Queanbeyan Age.

Date of Publication: 12/03/2010.