Review of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Movie #12 - Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

My loyalty to Tim Burton usually never waivers, but it has to in this case. He takes the weirdness of Lewis Carroll and expands it a little too much. There are positives, but the negatives outweigh them by a long-shot.

What I enjoyed about the film: 
The March Hare. This could be because The March Hare has always been my favorite Wonderland character, or it could be because Tim Burton creates a wonderfully hilarious little rabbit. I love the idea that The March Hare and The Mad Hatter have been waiting at their Unbirthday Party for Alice to return for many years. This allows them to drink A LOT of tea, which leaves them strung out and absolutely insane. To be honest, the only scenes I enjoy are the scenes that contain The March Hare and The Mad Hatter together.

I also enjoyed the creative ways they integrated "The Jabberwocky" poem into the story line. The entire film centers around The Frabjous Day. It's quite genius. I'm in love with "The Jabberwocky," so I was naturally drawn to the elements of the poem.

Everything else about the film I disliked. I even disliked the ways the characters were portrayed. Don't get me wrong, the actors are FANTASTIC actors, but the way the characters were written doesn't allow them to show their true potential. Johnny Depp's Hatter character is so ridiculous that it's not even enjoyable to watch him about half-way through the film. I HATED the casting choice of Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, and I hated the choice to keep her eyebrows black when the rest of her is blindingly white. I know that's the way of Tim Burton, but in this case it's just plain hideous. I also wasn't exactly sure why Helena Bonham Carter (who is normally one of my favorite actresses EVER) decided to give The Red Queen a speech impediment. It doesn't add anything to the film, and it's not even amusing.

I hate knocking Tim Burton's work, but I was not sold on this movie. I do agree with the choice to have Alice returning to Wonderland (for some reason renamed Underland...um, yeah). It reminds me of the story line of Return to Oz with Fairuza Balk, which is a PHENOMENAL sequel to The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy returns to Oz again, and it's a dark twist on what has happened to The Emerald City since her departure. It's a great film...unlike this one.

The way I wanted the movie to end - The Mad Hatter says to Alice that she will forget about him, and she responds that she never will. When she returns to reality, I expected her to actually be passed out in the gazebo with everyone staring at her. She gets up awkwardly, dumps that red-headed guy, and then as she's walking through the crowd of shocked party-goers, she runs into a man that looks eerily like The Mad Hatter. He bows his head, kisses her hand, and then he leads her away. The End. My ending would've been awesome. Take note, Burton.

Disliking 1 out of like 50 Tim Burton movies isn't too bad. I'm still loyal to him and his unique work.

I give Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland 2.5 out of 5 stars.