Old Art Direction, Still Gets Me

Rating: 8/10 (20 March 2010)

Ah, Tim Burton, you're so predictable some times. Whenever we go to your movies there are a few things we can expect. Johnny Depp with weird hair, speaking strangely. Your wife, Helena Bonham Carter, with weird hair, speaking strangely. A certain art direction that makes us feel like we're on the canvas of a painting that is in the process of being painted. The colors are vibrant and not particularly blended together yet. None of these things are bad in principle but I, for one, have begun to wonder how many times you can play these notes and produce an interesting film. When I went to the theater to see your latest, Alice in Wonderland, I admit that I was expecting to not be caught up in the world you created but distracted by so many familiar images. Well, you got me!
Alice in Wonderland, as created by Walt Disney animation sixty years ago, has become so much a part of the American culture that I, at least, thought I knew what to expect from Tim Burton's new live-action version. Just the same story but with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter with weird hair, speaking strangely. What I got was a new vision, still old art direction but, as usual, it worked. All the expected characters are there, the white rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Cheshire Cat and of course the Mad Hatter. But Alice is more grown up than I expected and she faces challenges that are equally grown up.
The progression of the film is about as uneven as Johnny Depp's accent throughout the film and there are moments when the sound mixers ought to have turned up the volume on the dialog. But, let's be honest, Tim Burton's films are not about plot progression or sound mixing. They are about the art direction, the story and Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter sporting weird hair and speaking strangely. This movie delivers on all those things. The story is engaging even when we can't understand what the characters are saying and the art direction suits it well. So, for all my protestation of late that Tim Burton should do something different. I have to eat my words and say that I'm glad he didn't do so on this occasion.