Movie Review - Alice in Wonderland

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

Movie Review - Shutter Island

Based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island is the latest project from Martin Scorsese. A psychological thriller, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels, a US Marshall who has been assigned the case of a mental patient who has escaped from Ashecliff Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island. He is joined by his partner Chuck Aule, portrayed by Mark Ruffalo.

The two arrive on Shutter Island in pursuit of Rachel Solando who mysteriously disappeared from her cell without leaving any trace and without anyone noticing she was leaving. As the two carry out their questioning of possible witnesses, it is clear to Teddy that the staff and patients know more than they are letting on. Teddy begins to suspect there is more than meets the eye to Shutter Island. A series of nightmares leave him feeling he, too, has a deeper knowledge of the happenings than his mind can fully grasp. As the movie progresses, the secrets begin to unwind themselves, leading to a storyline twist only the clever will unravel ahead of time.

In this author's opinion, the movie provided plenty of tension without resorting to the cheap scare tactics moviemakers seem so fond of these days. Though the movie ran to slightly over two hours, time did not drag and I found myself on the edge of my seat trying to work out the mystery. While I guessed some of the resolution ahead of time, the twist was such that I was not disappointed by discovering all the movie's secrets too early, but was given the opportunity to feel some of the surprise of other, less mystery-experienced, moviegoers.

This movie contains violence and inappropriate language for minors. It is not recommended for children under 18.

Total Running Time: 138 minutes

Wistfulgirl's Rating: 4 stars