Alice in Heartlessland

Rating: 5/10 (27 March 2010)

As one of the first Blockbuster's and a 3-D stunner, "Alice in Wonderland" once again saw the joining of an odd, remarkable story with oddball director Tim Burton. With few mishaps in his directorial career, early signs had to be positive concerning the Burton directed "Wonderland;" however, something somewhere along the lines went wrong; very wrong. As is come to be expected from a Burton film, "Alice in Wonderland" featured a story that one could only believe in their dreams mixed together with nutty humor and overbearingly bleak and dark themes, yet at the same time Burton's films have come to realize a strong sense of heart and togetherness, which is something that "Alice in Wonderland" lacks.
In the revamped "Wonderland," Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is concerned by a recurring dream that she had previously experienced when she was nine. Upon attending a party, she finds out that it is an engagement party for her and she is expected to be wed. Alice, under the uncertainty of the entire matter, runs off to follow a rabbit that she had spotted earlier into the woods and ends up falling down a hole at the base of an old tree. Alice soon finds herself back in Wonderland (although she doesn't seem to recognize or remember it at first) and surrounded by extraordinary figures such as The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). Alice is informed that the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has taken control of Wonderland and has done terrible injustices. She is then dropped with the bombshell that she is in fact the Alice that is destined to slay the Jabberwocky, which will put an end to the Red Queen's horrible reign.
Ultimately, Alice "finds herself" in Wonderland and brings about numerous self-revelations. Her relationship with the Mad Hatter is a well made parallel to her father and their scenes together are among the best written, shot and directed in the films. Sadly, the emotion, heart and connection really end there. Whereas Burton has excelled in the past, he simply cannot make up for the poorly written story, characters and script. For a Burton film, the exotic characters of Wonderland actually come out to be quite dulled down, almost lifeless and, dare I say it, underutilized. "Alice in Wonderland" simply lacks the heart needed to pull the audience in. After a familiar Disney ending, Alice is left with a decision whether to stay in Wonderland or return to her home. While it appears to be a rather difficult decision for Alice, the story does not support it. There should be a special connection between Alice, Wonderland and its characters, yet that connection is unmistakably missing. Aside from the Hatter and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), Alice did not seem to form any special connection with Wonderland at all.
The writer of "Alice in Wonderland," Linda Woolverton, appeared to be in over her head. Her previous work such as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King contain their instances of peril and shades of darkness, but cannot match the level that is usually represented in a Burton directed film. In fact, Woolverton's screenplay lacked the essentials to make "Alice in Wonderland" work: the script was lackluster, dreary, uneventful, drawn out and downright boring and the wackiness that is brought with the title "Alice in Wonderland" was limited. Eventually, the story does pick up, but it ends with a rather brief, anticlimactic battle between good and evil and its final scenes are completely unnecessary. The end result is an empty feeling left in the viewer's heart as its visuals exceeded expectations and fulfilled the magical Wonderland, but its story and characters seem almost cold and distant. The distance is like a barrier that disallows the characters to connect and win the hearts of the audience.
"Alice in Wonderland" does contain its brighter areas as it features yet another amazing example of cinematic visual euphoria and several strong performances from its dedicated cast. Opening in 3-D, "Alice in Wonderland" was a smashing success and brought Wonderland to life. (Such a shame the writing could not mirror that.) Burton regular Johnny Depp once again portrays his wacky side, although it seemed the Hatter was written less mad than need be. Another Burton regular, Helena Bonham Carter, stole each and every scene she was in playing the dastardly, yet unintentionally funny Red Queen; by far the highlight of the film. Lastly, as Alice, Mia Wasikowska more than holds her ground and does the best job that she can as the overwhelmed and confused nineteen year old girl.
Whether it be that Burton's dark tone didn't match with the thought-to- be colorful Wonderland or that it was simply the inadequate writing that did it in, "Alice in Wonderland" leaves the audience wanting more, but not in a good way. Its characters do their best to bring some life to the otherwise lifeless Wonderland, but sadly the heart just is not there when it needs to be and is a fatal fracture to a story that relies so heavily on exactly that. Its story and interactions are boring and make the rather short movie seem twice as long as it really is. It is almost depressing to see a story such as this fall to such a low, but for the viewer's sake, especially those enchanted by the majesty of the 1950's classic, everyone should avoid falling in that hole by the base of the old tree because there is no magic in this Wonderland.