An Alice for everyone = A pretty, but lazy, muddled mess

Rating: 5/10 (7 March 2010)

Perhaps I walked into this with unfair expectations. I love Tim Burton and his unique and artistic visual flair. And Alice in Wonderland has been an obsession of mine since I was a kid. I wanted this to be amazing, but I what it is is a generic fantasy adventure hiding behind some familiar faces in fancy new clothes (I must admit, the costumes are incredible).
I can't deny that the film is visually stunning, though I personally loathe the heavy reliance on CGI in movies today. (Go watch Return to Oz or Little Shop of Horrors or Labyrinth to see how much more real a fantasy world can look with an amazing set and cleverly designed puppets.) While this post-apocalyptic "Underland" is beautiful to behold (the moat of severed heads was particularly cool), the world feels hollow and distanced.
The plot... oy. It's serviceable. You've heard it before: Willfull Teenager travels to another world which has been driven to ruin by a tyrannical ruler. Willfull Teenager connects with a ragtag band to overthrow said ruler and save the world. It's a generic fantasy plot with the Wonderland gang thrown into the parts where they most conveniently fit. This is the most disappointing aspect of the film, in my opinion. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are hard books to turn into a cohesive movie plot, the books are essentially plot-less. But they're filled with so many iconic images, that when you're prepared to take as many liberties as this film does, it makes you wonder why would you squander all that potential on a story that any Joe off the street could have written?
As far as performances go, the film fares pretty well. Johnny Depp is a fine Mad Hatter, though at times, he gets so frantic I can hardly even make out what he's even saying. Helena Bonham Carter is without a doubt the best Queen of Hearts (going by the Red Queen in this version) in any Wonderland adaptation. She captured the selfishness and immaturity perfectly. And the voice actors are all decent. But any trip to Wonderland hinges on its Alice, and unfortunately, Mia Wasikowska pretty much sleepwalks through the film. Critics seem to take issue with how she plays Alice as being annoyed to be in such a wonder-full land. However, if you read the books, you would see that Alice IS annoyed to be in Wonderland. How could she not? She's surrounded by conceited lunatics the whole time. But I take issue with Wasikowska not being annoyed ENOUGH. Or displaying any sense of emotion enough. Such a subtle, and subdued performance doesn't really carry this kind of movie.
There is also an issue with the pacing of the film. It's pretty light-speed, which is a shame because that means it doesn't take time to savor the things that they could have explored more thoroughly to create a richer, more unique experience. The relationship between the Red Queen and White Queen for one. As well as the Knave of Hearts' relationship with the Red Queen. The Knave and the White Queen, I would argue, are the most intriguing characters in the film. Anne Hathaway certainly plays the White Queen as though her motives aren't entirely altruistic. But who cares about that when there's a ferocious dragon - or Jabberwocky - for Alice to slay for no reason? Alice herself is a good character, but any scenes to explore her growth as a person last about two minutes and are expressed in lines copy and pasted from everything Belle or Mulan or Princess Jasmine ever said.
Now, this movie is clearly meant to appeal to everyone, kids included. And kids aren't going to want to sit through a talky introspective art-house film, true. But Pixar proves time and again that you can have unique plots and characters that appeal to the masses. It can be done. But hey, Taylor Swift is winning grammys now, ushering in an era of mediocrity as far as the entertainment industry goes. And Alice in Wonderland seems to just be another example of the industry getting lazier and greedier. I'm thrilled that a new generation can get excited about what I think is the best piece of literature out there, but it's a shame it needs dumbing down and simplifying to do it.