Alice in Wonderland – 2010

Tim Burton is predictable, but in a crazy way. In his latest creation he adapts Lewis Carroll’s story of Alice in Wonderland to the big screen, something already done by Disney. Beware though, forget about chequered aprons, pretty bows and damsel-in-distress heroines.

Alice is not a child unlike the original story, here she is a 19-year old young woman who is about to get engaged (against her will) to a dull and constipation-prone rich guy. She runs away, chases after the infamous white rabbit, falls down the hole in the ground and ends up in a crazy imaginary world where she can shrink and enlarge, speak to flowers and animals and bicker with a queen who has a slightly over sized head.

Apart from fans of the original story, the rest of the audience might feel a bit confused. Alice goes from being a people pleaser to a warrior who wears fashionable dresses to a businesswoman, in a cinematically short time.

The story and Alice herself could be portrayed in a kind of Dorothy-esque fashion. Alice is on a quest which goes beyond the mere need to escape that bizarre dimension. Here she must save Wonderland and restore the crown back to its righteous owner, the White Queen. While this is surely entertaining, something is missing.

The Mad Hatter is not as funny or mad as you think he will be, you keep waiting for his moment in the tea party. However that moment is basically non-existent, and Johnny Depp, while certainly not bad, seems like forever on the brink of a comical outburst which never comes. The evil queen is not that evil and the Cheshire Cat does not get enough screen time as he should.

The special effects and photography are definitely striking, the colours of Wonderland surely stay with you even after the credits. Unfortunately the 3-D is something extra which does not have a particularly huge impact on the visual power of the film. Alice’s adventure becomes more intimate, almost like a coming-of-age tale of courage, self-confidence and taking your life in your own hands.

In general the feeling that Wonderland is supposed to be a lot crazier than that still lingers. Burton should have possibly done like Alice, and believed in unbelievable things.

Review by Margherita Pellegrino

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