Pimping Alice

Rating: 5/10 (18 May 2010)

Dark side director Tim Burton with screen alter ego Johnny Depp in tow would seem a safe logical and predictable choice to direct the surreal Alice in Wonderland in 3D and for his fans I'm sure he doesn't disappoint. But even though tweaked for today's audience with an age of consent anorexic Alice faced with a pre rabbit hole crisis there is a clear lack of creativity that makes this Alice a tedious waste of time.
Burton with all the technical bells and whistles at his disposal employs his usual characteristic quirks while Depp dresses up in his latest Halloween costume making for a joyless and disturbing Alice bereft of charm and lightness of intent. As a shabby underworld Wonka Depp's Mad Hatter is a waste of time as is Anne Hathaway's White Queen. They are two big names who contribute nothing besides luring one to the theatre. The technical advances bring improvement to the rabbits the caterpillar and Ts Dumb and Dee but the Cheshire Cat is a disappointment literally lacking the 51 Disney's hallucinogenic color. Only Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen seems to capture the spirit of the original character.
Since the turn of the last century there have been at least two dozen renderings on film of the classic children's story Alice in Wonderland. Like all children's stories it has amazing resilience in that its large core audience re-generates on a yearly basis by having it imposed on them by parents who underwent the same process. By the time this audience gets around to Cervantes and Dosteyevsky the numbers drop precipitously. Karamozov is a gamble but Alice is a safe box office bet. Time dictates updated makeovers however and like Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima Alice has gone through a variety of changes not specifically intended for children. There have been adult, modern day, animated, musical and even x-rated versions. This take is little more than a tarted up and edgy Alice that is too dark for children and too childish for adults. This may add up to big box office drawing off both demographics but as a film it's an uneven travesty.