Reducing Gold to Dross

Rating: 6/10 (11 June 2010)

I looked forward to this movie since the story has been a favorite for years and I've also have been a great fan of Jonny Depp. I have to say I finished the movie disappointed on two counts. My biggest disappointment was in the the way the writers took Mr. Carrol's wonderful story of nonsensical lightness and turned it into yet another Hollywood tale of cops and robbers or cowboys and indians. The delightfulness of the original story has been hacked into unrecognizable pieces by conflating Carroll's two stories and the Jabberwocky poem. The emphasis on violence is particularly disturbing and makes it evident the screenwriters had neither the heart or wit of Lewis Carroll. It makes the film unsuited for small children. When these stories were given to these screen writers it was a case of casting pearls before swine.
Mr. Depp's role as the Mad Hatter was interesting but not great. Largely it seemed a reprise of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Perhpas the Buton/Depp collaboration has gotten stale.