the unimagining of Alice

Rating: 4/10 (28 May 2010)

The most fun to be had at this movie is trying to figure out what they thought they were going after thematically, and guessing at what point they veered off course.
Alice is on the cusp of adulthood, fleeing from arranged nuptials, and chases the White Rabbit down the hole again. The film then becomes The Matrix, with Alice as the Chosen One destined to fight the indestructible demon and save Sion/Underworld. This she does in very ho-hum fashion, and returns to the real world all grown up and ready to assert herself. And there's Johnny Depp, being mad and Glaswegian at various turns.
I think it was meant to be about leaving childhood behind, and taking control of your own life. But as one glimpse at the buffoon Alice is meant to marry telegraphs the fact that this won't happen, there is no intrigue or ambiguity. An engagement with more feminist issues might have kept this juggernaut on track, but I think the 3D excitement steamrolled past such considerations. It's all just a bit pointless and silly, in the end.