Hidden theme?

Rating: 7/10 (28 March 2010)

I don't normally go looking for grown-up subtexts in kids' movies, but about half way into this one it hit me in the face: viewed at one level this film is 'about' the events leading up to the US invasion of Iraq. Suddenly, a whole lot of the Tim Burton storyline (as modified) began to make more sense. Just suppose (for the fun of it) that Alice stands for George W Bush; then the Red Queen is Saddam Hussein and the Jabberwocky would be Al-Quaeda. In the final battle scene there's also a hard-to-miss Coalition of the Willing. The impossibly beautiful and sanctimonious White Queen most clearly represents the United Nations - as perceived, that is, by the right-wing pro-war camp. For those of the opposite persuasion, of course, there is the smug satisfaction of knowing the whole heroic "Alice-to-the-rescue" thing is nothing but a delusional fantasy. There's something for both sides to take from this movie, which makes it a shrewd double-headed winner for Mr Burton. Having said that, I really enjoyed it.