Decent Version of the Classic Tale

Rating: Null/10 (4 April 2010)

Alice in Wonderland (2010)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Updated version of the Disney classic has teenager Alice (Mia Wasikowska) about to be forced into a lifeless marriage when she takes off running, falls into a hole and into Wonderland. There the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) has a mission for her and that's to bring the evil queen (Helena Bonhnam Carter) down and free (Anne Hathaway). I really wasn't sure what to expect from this film and when the end credits started I walked out of the theater with a take-it or leave-it feeling. This certainly doesn't match the animated film but at the same time I'm sure kids watching the story for the first time are really going to love what they see. For me the film just seemed to by the numbers as if Burton really didn't know where he wanted to go with the material. Everything is very beautiful on the eyes but a lot of the emotion seemed to be missing and the film really lacked any heart or soul. Out of all the Depp-Burton films I must admit that this was the first time I was disappointed with Depp. He certainly gives a good performance here but for the life of me I couldn't help but feel he got robbed by the screenplay that really didn't leave him much to do. In some ways I felt that Depp was a bit too good for this part and that the character was underwritten. I was also bored with Carter and her performance. Perhaps she's just been in too many of Burton's films but I didn't find any part of her character or performance to be entertaining. Even Hathaway's character is rather weak but the actress at least gives it her all. Wasikowska is the real reason this movie works as well as it does. I really couldn't take my eyes off of her and she did a marvelous job as Alice. I thought she gave an incredibly strong performance and I believed her every step of the way. She was cute, charming and fun which is exactly what the movie needed. Horror legend Christopher Lee lends his voice at the end of the film as well. The visuals here are very easy on the eyes but, again, without the heart of soul there's really not enough here to make it a winner.