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Armies of dangerously red heart-shaped cards, shrinking potions and ‘mad’ tea parties are just a few of the marvelously whimsical components that make “Alice In Wonderland” a must-see movie.
Misshapen and oddly-proportioned characters accommodate talking animals and the original mythical creatures derived from Lewis Carrols’ treasured works of literature. Based on two books of Carrols’, “Alice In Wonderland (1865),” and “Through The Looking Glass (1871),” Tim Burton finds a way to fuse 19th century literature with modern animation to produce a frighteningly phenomenal film. Although Burton’s signature spin on the films is twisted and dark, I found “Alice in Wonderland” to be marvelously appealing to the imagination.
This film is loaded with award-nominated actors and actresses: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helen Bonham Carter and Michael Sheen, who make the story come to life. Cast as the Mad Hatter, Depp steals the show with his electrically wild hair and simply ‘mad’ personality. When he entered the screen, I thought I’d have trouble forgetting about his scallywag-of-a-character from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” but I was definitely proven wrong. His character is twisted, yet completely demanding of the audience’s attention from the time he enters the screen to the ending credits. As Alice’s comrade, he helps her in a quest to defeat the Queen of Hearts and restore the White Queen’s reign over Wonderland (played by Hathaway). If you are a Depp fan, this film is definitely for you.
The real star of the show, Alice, is cast by Mia Wasikowska, who plays the 19-year-old girl that embarks on a journey to end the Red Queen’s reign and identify the ‘real Alice’ inside of her. By falling outside of her own world into Wonderland, Alice is reunited with her childhood friends: Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, who help her discover her true destiny. This remarkable adventure, once contained in her dreams, becomes a real life scene.
Decorated and vibrantly-designed costumes flood the screen during every minute of this movie to create a perfectly nightmarish world worthy of a five dollar ticket purchase. I was literally delighted and blown away by the special effects and detail put into this age-old tale. There wasn’t a minute in the movie where I found myself bored or out of place. There’s no reason you can use the excuse, “I’m poor, I’m a college student,” for this film, because it is absolutely sensational. In the past I haven’t been impressed by Burton’s disturbingly dark creativity, but in “Alice In Wonderland,” Burton and Disney have partnered into making a genius movie worthy of your time, money and imagination.
