A different take on a classic story

Rating: 7/10 (21 March 2015)

Alice in Wonderland is a take on the classic book and animated movie. This film brings all the famous characters to life. The main character, Alice has been having a reoccurring dream since a little girl. One day, she is at a party and is drawn to a rabbit hole that she falls down in. After her fall into Wonderland, Alice learns that she is there to help sleigh the Jabberwocky and end the Red Queens reign. To do this, she will need help from her new friends The Mad Hatter, Nivens McTwisp the white rabbit, The White Queen, a cat named Cheshire, a mouse, and Absalom the caterpillar.
Alice in Wonderland has a coming of age theme. Alice is a child in the beginning then we flash forward to her at the age of 20 and on the brink of getting engaged. Alice goes through many bodily changes on her journey from regular sized, small, tall, small, smaller, taller, and smaller. This reoccurs thorough the entirety of the film and the major changes of Alice. Alice is also not sure who she really is or what she is doing in this strange place she finds herself in. She is told she is "The Alice" there to slay the Jabberwocky, but she does not accept this fate at first and must be convinced. When she arrives, it is argued over whether or not she is the right Alice. This is symbolic of Alice trying to discover who she really is and making her own identity at this time.
Another underlying theme of Alice in Wonderland, which we see through a motif is death. Death is seen in many forms in this film. Repeatedly, it is associated with the Red Queen though when she says "off with their head". Alice, at first believes she is in just a dream, but she quickly realizes that it is not. She has her first brush with death when she is attacked by the Bandersnatch, The Red Queen's beast Alice is again facing death when she has her final fight with the Jabberwocky. Absalom also represents the theme of death when he goes into the final stage of transforming from a caterpillar to a butterfly, and he says "I have come to the end of this life". In a way, this ties in with the coming of age theme as well. As one comes of age and grows up they are leaving behind their younger self.
Wonderland gets brought to life through the use of special effects. This technique enhances our feeling of being there and bringing the cartoon version to life. All of the magical talking creatures you believe are actually in front of Alice talking to her.
Alice in Wonderland creates a spectacular vision of a classic story. Alice is a girl who is growing up and coming of age. This is no easy task for anyone, and for her it is even a life or death situation. Her dreamland and what she is there to do is reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz in a way. A young girl is placed in a magical world filled with strange creatures on an adventurous journey.