Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland
Adam Wheeler
Issue date: 3/10/10 Section: Variety
It appeared to be a match made in heaven; unfortunately, things never came together properly while making what could have been a tremendous achievement.
The cinema gods decided to take one of the all-time great Disney movies that is known for its obscurity and have the two kings of weird remake the project.
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have built their careers on making movies that show people things they either weren't expecting or haven't ever seen before.
Speaking literally, this movie shows you plenty of things you didn't see coming. The visuals are jaw dropping on a level that competes with "Avatar," but it's not the presentation of the film that makes the movie fall short.
The movie loses its charm any time Mia Wasikowska, who plays Alice, is on screen. When your main character is the weakest link in a film, you're in trouble. She just wreaks of mediocrity. She lacks the quirk that a movie like this requires.
Even a solid performance from Depp wasn't enough to make up for the lack of a strong Alice character. Anne Hathaway did well playing the White Queen, but her role wasn't significant enough for an actress of her ability, despite the fact that she requested the role.
For the most part, the rest of the cast is made up of computer-generated characters. As I mentioned before, they look amazing and the voice acting was dead on. The standout of the computer-generated characters had to be the Blue Caterpillar, voiced by Alan Rickman.
I had high hopes for this movie. Perhaps they were too high considering remakes are rarely any better than their predecessors. I don't regret seeing this movie, but I can't give it a high recommendation when the character that the movie is based around is the biggest downfall.
If insane visuals are enough to keep you entertained for a couple hours, see this movie, but if you're looking for something more in-depth, wait for it on Blu-Ray.
The cinema gods decided to take one of the all-time great Disney movies that is known for its obscurity and have the two kings of weird remake the project.
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have built their careers on making movies that show people things they either weren't expecting or haven't ever seen before.
Speaking literally, this movie shows you plenty of things you didn't see coming. The visuals are jaw dropping on a level that competes with "Avatar," but it's not the presentation of the film that makes the movie fall short.
The movie loses its charm any time Mia Wasikowska, who plays Alice, is on screen. When your main character is the weakest link in a film, you're in trouble. She just wreaks of mediocrity. She lacks the quirk that a movie like this requires.
Even a solid performance from Depp wasn't enough to make up for the lack of a strong Alice character. Anne Hathaway did well playing the White Queen, but her role wasn't significant enough for an actress of her ability, despite the fact that she requested the role.
For the most part, the rest of the cast is made up of computer-generated characters. As I mentioned before, they look amazing and the voice acting was dead on. The standout of the computer-generated characters had to be the Blue Caterpillar, voiced by Alan Rickman.
I had high hopes for this movie. Perhaps they were too high considering remakes are rarely any better than their predecessors. I don't regret seeing this movie, but I can't give it a high recommendation when the character that the movie is based around is the biggest downfall.
If insane visuals are enough to keep you entertained for a couple hours, see this movie, but if you're looking for something more in-depth, wait for it on Blu-Ray.
Be the first to comment on this story