Tim Burton once again delivers with Alice in Wonderland, which is sure to be another feather in his cap. This 3-D spectacle brings to life Alice and a bounty of memorable characters from Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and imagines them after Alice has grown up into a young lady of marrying age. Not thrilled at the prospect of being betrothed to a "proper" man of considerable means and title, Alice (who herself has been plagued by nightmares of rabbits in waistcoats, a blue caterpillar and a grinning cat) requires a minute of alone time to clear her head and get her thoughts in order.
Having recently caught sight of a rabbit such as the one in her nightmares, another glimpse of him leads Alice to follow, where she subsequently tumbles down a hole and into a new world. So begins her adventure and quest to dethrone the "Bloody Big Head" Red Queen and return the White Queen to her righful place upon the throne. Her journey is not quiet so straight-forward, though, as Alice is, at first, unwilling to believe herself to be the "right Alice", i.e. the one who had come to Wonderland so many years before. However, the enslaved and frightened inhabitants of Wonderland, led by the Mad Hatter (with yet another stellar performance from Johnny Depp), have faith in Alice and are correct to do so. Alice regains her memories of her younger self and leads the Wonderlandians to a predictable eventual happy ending.
Apart from a couple of confusing moments and a truly cringe-worthy dance from Depp at the end of the film, this movie more than delivered. Burton has given audiences what he is best at, including a cast of Burton regular Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Stephen Fry, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall in addition to Depp and others.
Burton and Depp fans will be delighted. Alice in Wonderland fans will be enchanted.
This movie does have some moments that may be frightening for younger children. Parents are cautioned when carrying small children to see this movie.
Total Running time: 108 minutes
Wistfulgirl's Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Love your new blog...I'm going to have to see this one. I'm debating on this movie and the one with Mel Gibson, Edge of Darkness.
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