Alice In Wonderland

Rating: 5/10 (7 March 2010)

Alice In Wonderland is based upon the books Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I am sure most people have seen the animated 1951 Walt Disney version of Alice In Wonderland and this new version is more or less a follow up to that film with one of the main differences being that it is not animated. This new version is in live action and when you go to the theatre to see it, they will be giving you a pair of those plastic glasses to see the film in 3-D. As a child, I do not remember how many times I saw the 1951 version of Alice In Wonderland, but it was always one of my favourite Walt Disney movies at that time. What, I liked so much about the original 1951 version was it's beautiful colours and unique characters and it was full of fun, mystery and a world of enchantment that really fascinated me and made me love watching this new world coming undone before my eyes. There was also a great deal of humour in it and it was a very entertaining and fun film to watch. Unfortunately, I can not say the same thing about this new 2010 version. A lot of the magic of the original film had disappeared for me and seeing this new version, made me wish I was watching the original animated one instead. While in the original everything in the world of Wonderland is bright, colourful and full of life, this new Wonderland is bland, dirty and not all that appealing. The light hearted touches such as some of the humour of the first film are mostly gone here. The acting here also I found to be bland from some performances and really almost one note performances, while other actors went so over the top for the roles with their acting style, that it became almost annoying and instead of being fascinating, or thrilling, it left me feeling bored. The costumes and the makeup of the film's characters all look okay to a point, but again a little too flashy for my likes, which did not fit the drab and boring backdrops that they used. The story also just did not captivate me. When, Alice is in her own world in reality, I found it to be uninteresting and quite boring and when she went to Wonderland, I found it over the top, annoying at times and not all that interesting really. I also had some problems with the film's script because it all felt a tad rushed. Then again I was glad to get out of the theatre when I did and if it had been much longer it probably would have given me more reason to complain. What, I was hoping for in this new version was another bright and beautiful world from a young girl's imagination with surprises and treats along the way to fascinate us and keep us in our own state of wonder. Instead, I found a dull and boring film that also relies heavy on technical effects, rather than story, making it another case of style over substance. Other people in the audience seemed to really like the film, so I am sure there is an audience for it, but it just was not personally for my taste at all.