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Is it worth $10? Yes
Alice is back in Wonderland, and she has work to do. Now 19 years old, Alice delays answering a marriage proposal in the real world to return to the rabbit hole, from which she once again emerges into Wonderland.
But this time, things are different. Many of Alice’s (Mia Wasikowska) old friends aren’t sure if she’s the correct Alice, and it’s been foretold that she will slay the Red Queen’s (Helena Bonham Carter) great dragon-like “jabberwocky.” With the help of the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and White Queen (Anne Hathaway),
Alice ventures through Wonderland and faces the great beast one-on-one.
The performances are solid throughout, with Wasikowska nicely playing naïve and innocent, Carter delightfully over the top, Depp expectedly hamming it up and Hathaway engaging as a serene, ethereal beauty. The formidable voice cast also includes Stephen Fry (Cheshire Cat), Alan Rickman (Blue Caterpillar) and Michael Sheen (White Rabbit).
Writer Linda Woolverton (“Beauty and the Beast”) obviously based the story on well-established characters courtesy of “Alice” author Lewis Carroll, but she’s also taken artistic license with teenage Alice returning to the strangest of strange lands. However, Carroll’s core values – those of finding oneself and pursuing one’s own dreams – remain the same and resonate very well.
This is a Tim Burton (“Sweeney Todd”) movie, which means there’s an emphasis on mood and visual flair. Burton’s trademark gothic visual style is on full display, and the dark themes/intense images easily could’ve pushed this to a PG-13 rating (it’s PG). Similar to how he handled “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” the darker moments are often lightened by bright and vibrant colors that nicely add to the film’s surreal tone.
Those seeing the film in 3-D will no doubt have a more enriching viewing experience, but I suspect this isn’t essential 3-D viewing. But it is a fun re-imagining of classic characters in a new setting, and darn if it’s not enjoyable to see what they’ve been up to.
Did you know?
Depp said the Mad Hatter’s look came in part from the term “mad as a hatter,” which was given to hat-makers suffering from mercury poisoning, which can cause skin discoloration and various other physical ailments.
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