Alice in Wonderland

Plot synopsis:
Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) is the daughter of Charles Kingsleigh (Marton Csokas), a wealthy man who planned to find profitable shipping routes through the world in the 19th century. When she tells him of her adventures in Wonderland (later to be revealed as 'Underland'), he declares her mad, but that all the best people are. However, many years afterward, Charles has passed away, and Alice misses his playful attitude.Now feeling trapped in a world of proper etiquette for one such as herself, Alice is taken to a garden party, where it is hoped that she will accept a marriage proposal from Hamish (Leo Bill), the son of one of her father's business partners. However, Alice soon grows distracted seeing a rabbit with a waistcoat nearby, and rushes after the strange creature.Following it, she finds her way to the trunk of an old tree some ways off, and falls down a hole. The hole leads her to a strange room, of which she finds a key, as well as a drink that makes her smaller, and a cake that increases her size. After getting the key and shrinking down to use a small door, she soon finds herself in an enormous garden area.Soon after, she comes across the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), as well as the Dormouse (Barbara Windsor), a Dodo bird (Michael Gough), and the Tweedles (Matt Lucas). The White Rabbit explains that is sure he has found the right Alice this time, while the Dormouse believes he is mistaken. Alice explains that her name is Alice, but feels they are looking for another "Alice." They take her to Abosolom the Caterpillar (Alan Rickman), who consults a scroll, which contains details regarding the history of Wonderland, from it's birth onward. The scroll claims that on the Frabjous Day, Alice will return to slay the Jabberwocky. Alice sees this, and adamants that she is not the person in the scroll, when a commotion breaks out, and the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) appears, along with some red-carded soldiers and a creature called a Bandersnatch. Everyone scatters, as the Knave takes the scroll, and captures the Dodo bird. Alice, when confronted with the Bandersnatch, stands her ground, convinced that it is just a dream. However, the creature scratches her, and Alice takes off running, but not before the Dormouse plucks out one of the creature's eyes.Some ways off, Alice encounters the Tweedles again, who attempt to help her, but are soon captured by a giant bird that takes them to the Red Queen's castle. At the castle, the Knave of Hearts informs the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) about the scroll, and the prophecy of Alice killing the Jabberwocky (of which she possesses). The Red Queen orders Alice to be found, and the Knave utilizes a bloodhound named Bayard (Timothy Spall) to track her down, promising freedom for Bayard's wife and pups (a lie, meant as a way to get the dog to help the Red Queen).Meanwhile, Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), who leads her to the Mad Hatter's place, where she encounters the Dormouse again, as well as the March Hare (Paul Whitehouse). The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is pleased to see Alice, and is in rapture over the coming Frabjous day in which she will slay the Jabberwocky. Alice again insists she is not 'that Alice,' when the Knave of Hearts and Bayard close in. The Hatter stuffs Alice into a teapot, to hide her from the Knave. In secret, the Dormouse scolds the dog for bringing the Knave there, but Bayard explains why he came. He then attempts to lead the Knave off in a different direction.After they have left, the Hatter walks Alice through the nearby woods, where they come across the burned ruins of a small village. The Hatter then explains to Alice about how in the time she was gone, the Red Queen has taken over Wonderland, banishing the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to her own domain, and taking her vorpal sword.As they talk, the Knave again approaches, and the Hatter places Alice on his hat, and flings it across a river, giving himself up to the Knave, who takes him to the Red Queen. Later on, Bayard finds the hat and Alice. Alice manages to convince Bayard to take her to the Red Queen's castle, to rescue the Hatter. Along with the hat, they find their way there, where Alice encounters the White Rabbit assisting with a game of croquet with the Red Queen. Alice requests to be made larger (she is still the size of a gerbil), and the rabbit gives her a cake. However, she eats too much and ends up almost 10 feet tall, disrupting the croquet game. The Queen does not recognize Alice, who says she is 'Um' from Umbridge, and wishes to help the Queen. The Queen, impressed by the size of Alice's head, declares her to be made part of her royal court.The Hatter is brought before the Queen and Alice, and is at first intended to be beheaded. However, the Hatter manages to stall for time, by requesting that he make the Queen a hat for her enormous head. Flattered by the attention, she gives into this request. Alice soon after finds out that the vorpal sword is on the grounds of the castle, but is locked away in a chest in the quarters of the Bandersnatch. After procuring the plucked eye from the Dormouse (who has broken into the castle to free the Hatter), Alice manages to return the eye to the creature. This allows her to gain access to the sword. Alice goes to the Hatter's room, and finds the Dormouse there. However, the Knave of Hearts shows up shortly, and when the Dormouse lets slip Alice's true name, he attempts to kill her. Alice manages to escape into the courtyard, where the Bandersnatch helps her escape from the castle. Bayard also accompanies her, as they head for the White Queen's castle.The Red Queen then orders that the Hatter and the Dormouse be executed the next day. However, the Cheshire Cat uses his trickery to take on the guise of the Hatter, and allows the Hatter, Dormouse, the White Rabbit, the Tweedles, and Bayard's family to escape. They all soon meet up at the White Queen's castle, where the Queen has used her potions knowledge to shrink Alice to normal size.The next day then dawns...the Frabjous day. Almost everyone is willing to take up arms for the White Queen. However, she hopes that Alice will fulfill the prophecy, but Alice rushes off to the Queen's garden, still upset over everyone pushing her into this task. It is there she encounters Absolom, cocooning himself. It is here that Absolom explains to Alice how she had been to Wonderland before, and suddenly, it all comes back to her, that what she thought originally was a dream was real. After her revelation, Alice dons the armor prepared for her by the White Queen, and takes up the vorpal sword.Both the White Queen and the Red Queen meet on a checkerboard field. Both Queens meet first, with the White Queen asking her sister to not do battle, but the Red Queen refuses to give into the pacification of her sister's plea. The White Queen brings forth Alice as their 'champion,' as the Red Queen' summons the Jabberwocky. As Alice faces off with the creature, the rest of the armies go to war. Alice plays a mind-game with herself, talking of 6 impossible things, as it is claimed her father would do before breakfast. In her mind-game, she manages to find the strength to slay the Jabberwocky. The Red Queen demands that her subjects kill Alice, but as the White Queen's champion has slayed that of the Red Queen, the Red Queen's subjects will no longer follow her commands.The White Queen orders the Red Queen banished to the Outlands, for the crimes that she has committed (due to a the White Queen's vow not to harm a living creature, she will not kill her sister), with noone to offer her sympathy. The Knave of Hearts is also chained to her, as punishment as well. However, the thought of being alone with the Queen causes him to try to kill her, before his dagger is taken from him by the Hatter.After the Red Queen and the Knave are taken away, the White Queen's army rejoices, with the Hatter doing a Fudderwupping dance, much to the delight of everyone. The White Queen then collects some of the Jabberwocky's blood, and gives it to Alice. The blood of the Jabberwocky allows Alice to return to her world, and she returns to the Garden Party.Alice then explains to Hamish that she cannot accept his proposal, as well as speaks her mind to a number of different relatives and acquaintances. Her forthright attitude catches the eye of Hamish's father, and soon, the two discuss plans to expand the shipping routes to China, a land that has not yet been opened to the west.Alice is then made an apprentice to the company, and sets off with a crew to open the shipping route to China, aboard a ship titled "Wonder". The last thing shown is a bright blue butterfly, none other than Abosolom.

Tags: fantasy, alternate reality, flashback, insanity, psychedelic, inspiring

Review:
What we end up with is a mid-point that fails to get to grips with what enchants people about the Alice story, and another chance to see a beautiful waif walk around twisted, quasi-Gothic landscapes to a score by Danny Elfman.Not that this isn't an enjoyable experience in itself, and as seen in the vast Screen 1 at the Empire it is at times breathtakingly pretty.
Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Danny Elfman – they say familiarity breeds contempt, well that's a bit strong but it IS seriously lacking in surprises and you cannot help think that all three individually talented men could do with taking a break from each other for the good of their careers.
Truthfully i wanted to love this movie, I'm a huge Tim Burton/ Johnny Depp fan.
The proposed 'sequel' to Alice in Wonderland is literally a rehash of most of the finer points of the original, except a lot more Johnny Depp- a character who the audience is supposed to sympathize with and root for, but who i found a bit annoying and tiresome after awhile.
(It's very, very good, but strange things happen if you look somewhere the 3D doesn't want you to look and there's the odd moment of strangely stiff animation, especially when human(-like) characters are completely CGI-ed up.)Unexpectedly, it sometimes feels like one of the Narnia films (though makes those movies look like accountant-led spreadsheets that have been printed out on toilet paper and left out in the rain), but mainly it's exactly what you'd expect from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
Right from the inclusion of Johnny Deep in a maddening avatar to Helena Carter as the tyrant witch witch an oblong head, Tim Burton yet makes another movie that is barely watchable and completely loony, in a bad way.Mia Wasikowska stars or rather pales as Alice, devoid of emotion or interest.
And I'm not a hater of Johnny or Tim Burton (loved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, liked Timm's Batman, Johnny's What's eating Gilbert Grape?)Helena plays the Red Queen in a quirky fashion that gets customary and monotonous.
Tim's Ego. And yet again Tim Burton's ego gets in the way as it did with Willy Wonka seriously thinking that he can improve an age old classic by replacing what he refers to as a mere series of events a little girl stumbles through, with a trite paint by numbers good versus evil story a la: Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Chronicles of Narnia, Golden Compass.
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is a sequel and not a retelling of the original children's novels by Lewis Carroll.
There, she meets past familiar faces as the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), and eventually the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), who has been terrorizing the land with her harsh rule and beheading of heads.
Along the way she meets up with all sorts of colorful characters.If you remember, Steven Spielberg's Hook was the live action sequel to Peter Pan. Similarly, Tim Burton's film is very much like a close cousin, except it's about Alice.
Chances are if one liked Hook, one will find many things to like about Alice.Tim Burton's version of the Wonderland's environments are gorgeous, imaginatively created, lots of colorful details, and breathes life.
This film is essentially Tim Burton's playground and even if there wasn't any story, it still would be plenty of fun to just watch the loony characters in their environment.
Tim Burton film version of Lewis Carroll's classic proves the special slickness of director to create weird worlds and strange characters .
Then she returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends as Mad Hatter (Jhnny Depp), White Rabbit (voice of Michael Sheen), Chesshie Cat (Stephen Fry), Blue Caterpillar (voice of Alan Rickman) and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's (Helena Bonham Carter)reign of terror who helped by Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) is fighting her sister White Queen (Anne Hathaway)for the kingdom.Moving rendering of Lewis Carroll classic with gimmick of blending live action and computer generator puppets and 3D animation .
oh wait, the list ends here.If Burton had spent as much time writing the story, developing the characters and working on the dialogue, as he had on making sure that the dresses were spectacular, this movie might have been quite alright.
And he seemed to have thought that, if the story (or lack of it, to be honest) was not dreadfully bad enough, this could be fixed by carefully adding a cliché to almost every line in the dialogue, and by making sure that there was not a single funny (like laugh-out-loud funny, not a half-smile-OK funny) moment in the whole movie.Worst of all, he mercilessly murdered the essence and soul of the characters.
However, I disagree with reviews stating the movie had no "plot" or "substance" or was "too confusing." (For those of you who haven't seen it, be sure to pay attention to the beginning of the movie--everything that happens ties in with Alice's Wonderland experience.) Perhaps this is where people have become disappointed: you can't watch this movie thinking it's just like the book or a remake/live-version of the Disney animated film that was produced nearly 60 years ago.
You have to approach the movie for what it is--Burton taking familiar characters, a familiar setting and plot, then expanding on it with his own take (once again with the help of best friend Johnny Depp and long-time significant other Helena Bonham Carter); using superb animation technology and phenomenal costume design--I expect to see various "Alice"s this Halloween.I give this a 9/10...
and along with his regular star Johnny Depp, they both concocted this extension of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (few of my favorite stories), for Disney.I saw the movie in 3D with my Dad, and it was the second film my Dad had ever seen in a theatre.
What I meant by extension of the story is that we get to see a 19-year-old Alice returning to Wonderland (or "Underland" as it is called), after escaping an possible wedding engagement to some poop-a-doop-spoiled-brat snob; to end The Red Queen's reign of terror and restore the White Queen (who is sister to the Red Queen) to the throne.So anyway I really love this film, and I love the film's musical soundtrack that unites Burton's regular composer Danny Elfman.
Pretty terrible sequel of sorts to the famous Lewis Carroll story that finds Alice returning to Wonderland years after her first adventure to do battle with the Jabberwocky and end the reign of the tyrannical Red Queen.A lot of money and some pretty decent actors are thrown up on the screen in a frenzy of special effects, production design and action sequences that are meant to distract us from how badly written and unengaging the whole thing is.
The only thing that occasionally roused me from my drowsy stupor was Helena Bonham Carter, who gives the film its only laughs as the Red Queen.At one time I thought Tim Burton had the makings of a great filmmaker.
Alice in Wonderland is one of those movies which shows Tim Burton still has what it takes to survive the world of cinema filled with huge special effects and action in almost every movie.
It has the usual dark tone which is seen in just about every movie Tim Burton makes while also being a fun and creative kind of crazy (even for Alice in Wonderland).I guess you could say it was kind of a sequel to the story of Alice in Wonderland we've all heard.
Watching Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND was a lackluster experience, and stands for now as probably the most charmless film the director's made.
I enjoyed this film, I found it interesting that rather than a remake it was an extension of the Alice In Wonderland books which it seems that not a lot of people realize, the acting was fine, Wonderland was visually stunning, and the characters were good, although I do not understand that when Burton and Depp decided the Hatter's accent would change to reflect his emotions, why they chose a Scottish accent which at times is hard to understand, and the 3D was not really necessary for it only felt like a couple of scenes were coming out of the screen, this film met my expectations, it had Burton's bizarreness, darkness, colorfulness and energy, all in all, a good movie and classic Tim Burton..
The answer is Alice.Lewis Carroll would probably like Tim Burton's movie.
I was very excited about this film prior to it's release, it went something like this:Tim Burton's making Alice in Wonderland: "Sounds great!"Johnny Depp is playing the Mad Hatter: "Oh, that's alright; it's a small part"The majority of the film will be filmed on a green screen: "Oh...well that's can work.
Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" is actually a sequel of sorts (think Steven Spielberg's "Hook", only much better) which again sees Alice go down the rabbit hole but imagines it in a completely different way.
She falls in and is thrust into the twisted world of Tim Burton, I mean Wonderland, or as the inhabitants call it, Underland.She is confronted by several characters, including Tweedledee, Tweedledum, the White Rabbit, the Dodo bird, and the Blue Caterpillar.
She seeks help from the Cheshire Cat, who leads her to the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).Without going too far into the story, Alice is faced with several challenges dealing with her belief in Wonderland and her role in restoring order to the land.
Tim Burton's version is quite different to the classic Lewis Carroll and Disney versions in that the story is more or less completely different.The film follows Alice, now nineteen, as she returns to Underland, although she believes her first trip to the magical place was all a dream.
All the classic characters are there: Matt Lucas as both Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and, of course, the outstanding Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.The film itself is pretty much 95% CGI, which gives it the 'Wonderland' look.
Wonderland and all it's inhabitants look just as you would imagine, complete with giant toadstools, a blue smoking caterpillar and a Mad Hatter drinking tea.The story is not a remake of the original but rather a 'what happened next' version based around a more grown up 19 year old Alice and this is what made the movie so enjoyable for me.
Mia Wasikowska made a very sweet Alice, Helena Bonham Carter hilarious as the Red Queen and Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat really stole the show.I agree with other reviewers when they say the storyline of the movie isn't edge of your seat stuff, but for me it didn't need to be.
But if you, like me, are enamored of the original Alice in Wonderland story as written by Lewis Carroll, do yourself a favor and avoid this movie at all costs.
Anne Hathaway didn't appear a lot in the movie, but enough for her character.As always, Tim Burton is creating extravagant and crazy things, and he is one of my favorites directors.
It's not quite how we remembered it to be, and Tim Burton also showed glimpses of how it would look like if he had played this movie straight, but that would be losing a lot of fun that had found its way to his vision, so much so that he provides such a trippy ride, you'd wonder who was more loony, Burton, or Carroll himself.In fact, every character here seemed a little mad or come with that tinge of insanity, even the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) herself seemed a little bit over the top in her all white goodness.
While there were plenty of specially crafted 3D moments to enhance the visual storytelling (the final battle scene involving Alice being the most outstanding I've seen thus far), kudos also went to the wealth of British talent roped in for roles both in the flesh, CG enhanced or providing voices to their graphical representation, with the likes of Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Christopher Lee and even Michael Gough, who had collaborated with Tim Burton before.And this film, like most of Burton's others, comes the return of long time collaborators Danny Elfman in music, Helena Bonham Carter having a field day as the ridiculously evil Red Queen with her big head being the butt of most jokes, and Johnny Depp, who wows in yet another unorthodox role as The Mad Hatter, given more screen time and more depth compared to the novels.
We know how outlandish Depp can become each time he's in a Tim Burton film, and Alice in Wonderland is no different, but surprise surprise, Mia Wasikowska's performance as the titular character got curiouser and curiouser as the film went along, which is a good thing since she delivered enough not to be overawed by her co-stars, and stood her ground in making the character her own.She's quite the clotheshorse too, given the opportunity to showcase some Underland fashion sense no thanks to her changing body size.
I never thought that there would be an Alice in Wonderland as good as the animated version but with each viewing, I'm starting to get torn between which I like more and I love the animated version.I'm really surprised to see so many negative reviews for this movie.
Alice in Wonderland is another big budget exercise in eccentricity for eccentricity's sake from the team of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, an overindulgent and unnecessary retelling of the Lewis Carroll tale full of the director's trademark Gothic grandeur and featuring another kooky performance from the top billed star designed to further his appeal with disaffected loners and weirdos (don't be offended: I include myself in those categories).Help is also on hand from pretty but wooden Mia Wasikowska as Alice, assorted well regarded thesps, a handful of cult names from the world of British TV, and of course, Burton's wife, Helena Bonham-Carter, whose weak impression of Queenie from Black Adder II is sadly the best performance of the whole film.The clumsy narrative, which focuses heavily on elements from the nonsense poem The Jabberwocky, rarely engages the viewer in a satisfactory manner, achieving neither suspense, tension, excitement or, perhaps most notably, a sense of wonder; instead, the story plays second fiddle to the polished CGI visuals, which offer up the usual, tired, trippy imagery associated with the stories, but fail to either add anything new or make full use of the 3D technology (Wonderland looks positively flat in comparison to Cameron's alien world in Avatar).Not quite as bad as Burton's re-imagining of Planet of the Apes (thank heavens), but still a long way from the genius on display in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and Mars Attacks (hey, I like it, so there!), Alice in Wonderland must have looked like the perfect project for all involved but the finished product is unlikely to have anyone grinning like the Cheshire cat.Oh, and anyone who that thinks Crispin Glover needs digitally altering to look creepy is seriously misguided..
This movie version of "Alice is Wonderland" is surprisingly intelligent.It takes the main elements of the classical story, set 13 years later against the tyrannical rule of Red Queen, thus setting up the archetypal "quest" story cleverly incorporating the book's Jabberwocky poem.Bookending this "quest" is the 'real world' story of a Victorian girl coming of age and gaining the courage to take control of her life against social pressures and expectations.In terms of literary ingenuity I think it's terrific - provided you're familiar with (and a big fan of) the original Alice story..
The acting was amusing and little details about the characters' personalities was made in a very smart fashion that will keep you entertained through out the movie.I give Alice in Wonderland a 10 stars for all the fun that I had watching it, I wished it was 1 hour longer..
Johnny Depp should try his hand at acting again instead of appearing in Tim Burton's movies as asinine characters who are completely obtuse, one dimensional, and boring.
But now...Tim Burton takes a new turn on a priceless classic movie everyone knows and love and that's Alice in Wonderland!
And newcomer Mia Wasikowska as Alice makes her part in the movie very well done and nicely.I've heard lots about this news for the movie since one year ago when they show trailers of it and it just blew me away, but when I saw it, I was surprised how differently it turn out to be.It's a little bit odd than most of Tim Burton's old work before, but you won't stop enjoying it till it's over.
It is an imaginative film presented magnificently.To backtrack a little, I didn't think I'd enjoy the prior Burton/Depp hook-up - Charlie and The Chocolate Factory - as much as I did, so I went into Alice In Wonderland with high expectations.
if you're older than that, there's so many layers you'll enjoy it the same, Johnny Depp was great, his mad hatter, brave and insane, and charming, wish he could get some recognition for this one, I liked him more than as Captain Jack.Mia, the girl is stunning, pretty and talented, her Alice is soft and delicate, yet she's a fighter, you can see she's not afraid at all, even if at first she hesitated, both as character as an actress you see a fresh face and lots of potential.Helena Bonham-Carter and Anne Hathaway did what they do all the time, both lost in the character, both amazingly well done.the effects and other creatures, even the furniture, were amazing, the first time you see this movie you feel you're inside that world, you want to follow the white rabbit and get lost in a world of insanity and fun.