Burton a la Cameron

Rating: 6/10 (27 April 2010)

A few months ago I accompanied the international students at UNCG on a trip to New York City. It was my second visit, and I spent two days in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) trying to enter the Tim Burton exhibit (which closes today). When I finally got in on day 2, I was surprised to see the sheer number of artifacts on display. Burton has a habit of drawing the characters for his movies before he films them. I found original designs for everything from Batman to Planet of the Apes. The look he creates for the characters is carefully integrated into their on screen appearance. Nothing from Alice in Wonderland was available and, in retrospect, is my biggest disappointment with the exhibit. Everything we see in the computerized fantasy world of this film is uniquely his. He must have spent as much time designing the scenery of Alice as much as he did the characters. The movie has the video game aesthetic of Avatar with varying creativity of multifaceted level design. The story takes a back seat into irrelevancy as the spectacle unfolds. Burton draws from his early animated works for a few characters and live animals for others. It has the effect of creating a wholly unbelievable fantasy world. You really have to see it to believe it. A nineteen year-old Alice finds herself in Wonderland after refusing to be married to some milquetoast loser. She discovers the other world is in shambles after an era of tyrannical rule by the Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Carter). Burton has a lot of fun bringing the campiness out of his wife in this pic. He blew up her head to extraordinary sizes with Windows Movie Maker, covered it pantomime makeup, and made her watch a ton of crappy Disney princess films. In all of those movies, the "evil stepmother" character deliberately speaks in an exaggerated manner that signifies her as the villain. Her dialog is in obvious contrast to how everyone else speaks. Bonham-Carter is a plays the evil stepmother (or queen this time) with the added touch of Burton's zany sense of humor. Alice meets the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) who is the rightful ruler to the kingdom. Hathaway gets the opportunity to relive her early Disney career as the princess archetype and enriches the film experience by flailing her arms about and skipping from place to place. Apparently there is some prophecy that Alice will defeat the Red Queen's greatest servant Jabberwocky and save the wonderworld. She does this and returns to England to begin another life. Outside of the intriguing visuals, this version of Alice offers little more than traditional frenetic blockbuster fair. I never grow tired of Burton's artistry, so I'll give it a pass. The 3D does not enhance the experience as apparently it was filmed in 2D. I think it's as visually stimulating as Avatar, yet it still doesn't reach Cameron's otherworldly feel.
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