Burton + Disney = Cheshire cat without a smile.

Rating: 6/10 (22 March 2010)

I was not too excited about the upcoming 3D adaptation - continuation of the classical books by the English Math Professor of the 19th century known to the world as Lewis Carroll about the adventures of a young girl named Alice in the Wonder/Under-land. I consider the best adaptation of the book, the closest to its spirit directed by Jan Svankmajer in 1988. I went to see Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton in 3D because I remembered how wonderful it was to see Avatar few months ago in 3D. The 3D features in Alice are nice addition to the film, and I would never say that the Burton's film is not beautiful, and the Wonderland he creates is not magical and entertaining but I felt that something was missing. I wanted to be amazed, fascinated, to be changed constantly like Alice herself but it did not happen. While watching the film I was thinking, oh, it is so much like The Wizard of Oz for 21st Century - the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch, and the brave girl who returns to the world she visited once and can't forget. Then, during the final battle Alice transforms into a Jean of Arc - like warrior with the magic sword in the shining arms. The story of the grown up Alice that bookends the Wonderland visions seems to be written to make Alice who is not a child but a 19 years old in the film, an inspirational young woman, the early feminist. It's been a long time since I read fabulously twisted Carroll's stories but as far as I remember, their charm is in the captivating words games, in the unexplained and extraordinary strange situations and deliciously absurd characters. It is also in the ability to look on the same event from totally different perspective. Just remember how many times and how suddenly and instantly Alice changes her size and perception of unreal reality. Tim Burton and his screenwriter tried to give some logic and explanation to the world of dreams, fantasy and absurdity. As a result, the film turned into another version of the struggle between good and evil, which closely resembles the story of the girl named Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. I felt like in the struggle between Tim Burton, a highly creative, imaginative Artist who is at his best while producing the dark visions, and the Disney studio that financed the film, there is no convincing victory. For the film that was made to include the young children as the target audience, Alice is too dark, complex, and scary. For the older viewers open to any complexity coming from the union of Burton and Carroll made in the cinematic haven, the film is strangely dull, slow, and boring. It could be easily described by one simple equation, Barton + Disney = Cheshire cat without a smile. It is really strange because the production values of the film are very high, and the actors enjoy playing weird and creepy characters. It was pleasure to see Johnny Depp as a Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the villainous big-headed Red Queen but I think that Crispin Glover deserves special mention as the Knave of Hearts, the personal assassin to the Red Queen and her confidant.
I don't regret seeing Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland at the theater but next time I want to see the cinematic equivalent of the Carroll's book, I'd pull from the shelf the DVD Jan Svankmajer's Alice which is still my favorite Carroll's adaptation.