Tim needs a break from the remakes

Rating: 6/10 (30 March 2010)

Ah, Tim Burton, one of my favorite directors of all time. Now when it comes to his original ideas, his movies are just incredible and something from a different world. But when it comes to his remakes, for some odd reason he can never get something right with making the film into his own or even something that was respectable to the original story. Now granted one thing I love about him is that he tries to stay true to the original book, as we see in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we see that now with Through the Looking Glass. Alice in Wonderland is one of the most disturbing stories you could think about, but it's an extremely memorable Disney classic. No matter what age you are, if you've seen the movie, it's a great one but always manages to give you the shivers with some of the imagery and ideas. Again, hate to make the comparison, but like The Chocolate Factory, Tim and Johnny Depp team up again to make him even more disturbing looking than ever. I love Johnny Depp, but what the heck is he doing with these characters? He's making them so painfully uncomfortable to watch on screen that it took away from the story, at least for me. He didn't steal the movie, I'd give the credit to Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, she was a pleasure to watch and makes a memorable villain.
Troubled by a strange recurring dream, nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh attends a party that she is told is an engagement party to wed her to Hamish Ascot, whose family now owns her deceased father's trading firm. Unsure of how to reply, she runs away to chase after a rabbit, and accidentally falls into a rabbit hole. The only exit in the world is too small, causing Alice to use a series of potions to shrink and escape. Upon exiting, she is welcomed by the White Rabbit, the Dormouse, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee, who question her identity as "the right Alice." They take her to the Caterpillar, who decides that she is "not hardly Alice." Meanwhile, Iracebeth the Red Queen, who has conquered Underland by stealing the crown from her sister Mirana the White Queen, is informed by the Knave of Hearts that Alice has returned to Underland, causing her to send Bayard the bloodhound to find her. The wandering Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat, who takes her to a tea party, where she meets the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and the Dormouse. The Hatter decides that she is "absolutely Alice," settling any doubt. Now they have decided that she is the one who is going to save their world and the White Queen's crown.
The film certainly has it's flaws, it goes a little too Chronicles of Narnia for me towards the end. Also, I know this is a movie, I know I'm going to ruin the story, but I couldn't help but think throughout this whole movie, Alice has a potion that can make her into a giant, she has to destroy the evil Red Queen, why not just make herself bigger and squash all of her soldiers? Again, forgive me, I know it's Hollywood, the movie would be only 5 minutes long if I made it, but it just seemed to convenient for no one to bring up. Also what the heck was with the break dance at the end? It felt too out of place and once again so uncomfortable to watch on screen, that it took away from the story. But, while Alice in Wonderland has problems that it does need to work on, visually, it's really amazing. This was a great 3D experience, the Red Queen looked amazing and very real. I loved Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and her world of bright and pure color that made it just lovely to watch. As for the actors, Helen took the crown for performance, Anne did a decent job as well. But as for Johnny Depp, I don't know what drug he's taking, but he really needs to step back. He's good at playing eccentric characters as we see with Edward Scissorhands and Jack Sparrow, but as for Willy Wonka and that Mad Hatter, it's too much and extremely painful to watch. Mia as Alice did an OK job, nothing really memorable, but she couldn't do much as the script needs some major improvements. OK, before I run out of room, I'm sorry to babble, but I'd say this is worth the look in the theater as a matinée, but nothing more as it's more visual than story driven.
6/10