Tim Burton wins again with Alice in Wonderland

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2014)

"Alice in Wonderland" finds a much older Alice following a white rabbit down a rabbit hole. Upon landing at the bottom of the hole, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) finds herself in a strange world surrounded by strange creatures who argue about if she is the right Alice that they have been searching for. When the Red Queens guards show up, Alice's journey of trying to keep from being captured by the red guards, and wake up from a dream she believes she is in, begins. In her journey, she meets the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). Alice is also told of a prophecy she stars in that will free the citizens of Underland, the real name for Wonderland, from the Red Queens reign by killing the Jabberwocky (Burton, 2010). The theme of the movie is an action adventure based in a fantasy world. During the entire movie, Alice is having one adventure after another in her attempts to free the Mad Hatter, find the Vorpal sword, and make it to the White Queens castle in the hopes that the White Queen can help her get back home. At the same time, Alice begins to realize who she is as an individual and the personal strength she has. She stands up for herself often and leads others with her ideas and plans.
The movie is fast-paced and has multiple elements from visual and sound effects to the actors chosen for the movie. Since Underland is purely fantastical, there is a lot of computer generated images (CGI). "Avatar" shares the same theme and is a highly successful movie. The background was created by the same person who created "Avatar" and that was the right choice for this movie since Tim Burton is known for movies that stretch the imagination and help the audience become immersed in the story instead of being distracted by the background. The sound effects are great. The thrashing around by the Bandersnatch when it is chasing Alice and when it is running with Alice on its back along with the ambient noises are not overwhelming; however, it adds to the reality of the story. The actors all did a great job of portraying his or her character. The audience believes that the Mad Hatter is very crazy, and Alice is a confused woman who finds her true self at the end of the movie. The only character that seemed out of place was the White Queen with her constantly "floating" around with her arms and nose in the air.
The costuming and make-up designs were spectacular in the movie. Although the Mad Hatter's make-up was odd, with his blue and purple eye shadow, it was easy to tell when he was having a good or bad moment. When he was having a good moment, his eye shadow was light blue and purple. His bad moments were highlighted by the fact that his eye shadow turned black as did the areas under his eyes, so it looked like he was an evil creature who was to be avoided at all costs. The costumes helped sell the era for the London scenes and highlighted how fantastical the world of Underland is with some of the outrageously dressed people and animals Alice encounters. Good costumes and make-up really help sell the reality of a fantasy movie since people are visual by nature.
The lighting of the movie was also nicely done since a lot of the movie was filmed in front of a green screen for the CGI to be added in later. The lighting fit the mood of the scene and the location that the scene was taking place in. When the Mad Hatter is walking through the woods with Alice and starts to explain how the Red Queen attacked everyone, the lighting becomes dark and ominous as the Jabberwocky attacks. In the castle, there are a lot of windows and the lighting used looks like natural sunlight through the windows. If artificial light was used, it is hard to tell in those scenes when the sun is shining.
Overall, this was a great movie. The theme of action adventure in a fantasy world was achievable with the help of visual and sound effects, the actors that were chosen, and the costumes and make-up that was selected for the movie. I highly recommend this movie to everyone who just wants to sit back and enjoy a good movie.