An 'Alice' for a new generation. Another Burton classic comes to life.

Rating: 8/10 (19 March 2010)

My Take: In Burton's version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, there is never the lack of imagination, wit, and a few dark touches of his previous works.
It's a bumpy ride down the rabbit hole and through the Looking Glass, but with Tim Burton as our guide, I wouldn't mind how far he would take me. Instead of adding to the multitude of screen adaptations of the beloved Lewis Carroll stories, Burton takes his own spin on the classic story, a decision that will no doubt anger some purists. But I take this move as a good thing. Other than being pure eye-candy, what Burton adds in his 'Alice'- something the original stories actually lacked- is direction. Unlike the previous versions, Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND is not just a series of odd characters strung together by a series odd situations, it's a full-blown adventure story. And filmed in gorgeous 3-D, taking a look through the Looking Glass will not be the same again.
Alice is not what you remember her to be. Wonderland (now Underland) is not what she remembers it to be either. Now 19 (and played by newcomer Mia Wasikowska), Alice is stubborn and headstrong, yet unable to fit in with the Victorian-age lifestyle of the society she grew up in. After rejecting the marriage proposal of her arrogant suitor (Leo Bill), she follows a familiar white rabbit down the rabbit hole and is thrown back into a world she has a vague recollection of, where she is welcomed as sort of a hero. See, Alice is destined to rid the land from the evil rule of the ill-tempered Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Carter, with a huge head) by slaying her pet Jabberwocky (voiced, briefly, by Christopher Lee). But the thing is, old acquaintances like the White Rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen), The Chesire Cat (voiced by Stephen Fry), and Absolem the Caterpillar (voiced by Alan Rickman) aren't quite sure is she's the "real" Alice.
Working with a script by Linda Woolverton (who wrote Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), Burton's 'Alice' is rooted in the world Carroll has imagined, but it has NARNIA and LORD OF THE RINGS in its blood. A warrior Alice may not be what Carroll had in mind with the character, but for Burton's darker and more mature 'Alice', it's an adequate coming-of-age for the character; everything that the story calls for. In other words, Alice in converted into another typical Burton figure; extraordinary yet misunderstood. Familiar characters from the original text are given much more light here, not to mention the much-anticipated performance by Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. It could have been a one-note, crazy performance by a gifted actor, but both Burton and Depp have done more. Scenes like the Hatter in deep depression when he tells Alice of what happened to Underland, adds gravity to the often hysterical character from the original stories. With her strong-willed spirit and her classy accent, newcomer Wasikowska is a perfect fit for Alice. But when it comes to the scene-stealing performance, Helena Bonham-Carter's over-the-top Red Queen wins every scene she's in. Supporting performances by Anne Hathaway (White Queen) and Crispin Glover (Knave of Hearts) are welcome touches. The film looks good on 3-D (more so on IMAX), and not because of the several "in-your-face" sequences, but because it enhances the experience; it immerses us into the (pardon the term) wonderful world Burton has created. The music and production design are all spot-on.
This a different and even darker ALICE than you remember. Do see ALICE IN WONDERLAND not as a straight retelling but as a stand-alone effort. Here Burton proves time and time again that the worlds he create are just as vast as his own imagination.
Rating: ***** out of 5.