Tim Burton and Alice in Wonderland are such a natural combination that it’s a wonder that he hasn’t tried to make an Alice film years ago. Now that he has, it’s likely that it will draw mixed reviews because everyone has a different idea of what a Burton Alice would look like – not too mention the possibility that he’d make a sequel to the Lewis Carroll novels.
Well, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is as odd and vaguely sinister as any Burton fan could ask for. It also pushes the bounds of its PG rating as far as it can. I can see it producing nightmares in younger children and especially sensitive adults. From where I sit, this is a Good Thing. Alice in Wonderland should be a bit darker and more twisted than other classic tales – that aren’t Grimm’s Fairy Tales, at least.
In Burton’s take on Carroll’s classic, Alice [Mia Wasikowska] is a not particularly Victorian lass of nineteen whose intelligence and wit are initially blunted by her naiveté – she refuses to wear corsets, talks back to her mother and has no clue that the party she’s about to attend is intended to be her engagement party [though an unlikely set of twin sisters spring that surprise before they’re supposed to].
When she sees a white rabbit in a waistcoat, she is so distracted she ignores her mother-in-law to be and has to take a moment following her would-be husband’s less than enthusiastic proposal and follows the aforementioned rabbit. The sighting of the White Rabbit [Michael Sheen] brings back the memory of a nightmare that’s haunted her since she was a child… This leads to a fall through a rabbit hole and variations on the events of the classic tale begin to unfurl in frequently surprising ways.
A lot of the familiar elements are there: the “drink me” potion; the “eat me” cake; the quirky characters – The Mad Hatter [Jonny Depp], The March Hare [Paul Whitehouse], Dormouse [Barbara Windsor], Dodo [Michael Gough]; the Cheshire Cat [Stephen Fry], The Red Queen [Helena Bonham Carter], The White Queen [Anne Hathaway], The hookah-smoking Blue Caterpillar [Alan Rickman] and so forth.
The result is a psychedelic spectacle that engages the mind and the heart – framed in a combination quest/coming-of-age story that carries us darkly merrily along to a conclusion that is both fresh and a subversive play on cliché.
There are flaws, but most of the quibbles are minor and don’t really bear mentioning. The biggest problems are in the 3D and the casting of Anne Hathaway as the White Queen.
The 3D is surprisingly subtle [adding depth to an imaginary world without resorting to things being thrust into our faces] but uneven [fuzziness in some of the action set pieces that can be distracting] – and Ms. Hathaway, with her anime´ features [huge eyes, delicate nose and too-wide grin] is perhaps too perfectly cast. She is supposed to be disquieting in the role, but her attempts to seem ethereal are far too unsettling.
The film’s greatest strengths are in its three main characters. Wasikowska’s Alice is both naive and witty [her handling of the Red Queen in their initial encounter is smart and subtly funny], and her growth – as she discovers who she is – is completely believable. Carter’s Red Queen takes the “off with their heads” cliché and infuses it with subtle [there’s that word again] vulnerabilities [her reason for inviting Alice into her home is a good example].
Finally, there’s Jonny Depp’s Mad Hatter. With his chalk white face, I can see some people thinking he’s just Willy Wonka gone off his nut but such is not the case. Hatter is someone who has seen everything he loved destroyed – and he’s itching for a chance to change that. He is also the only one who immediately recognizes Alice [with all that implies] – and he is the first to volunteer to sacrifice himself to save Underland [not Wonderland as Alice seems to have dubbed it]. It’s a tricky performance and matches up nicely with Wasikowska’s portrayal of Alice’s growth as a person.
Sure the film has its frumious Bandersnatch and its Jabberwock [Christopher Lee] – not to mention the legendary vorpal sword – but the film works because we care about Alice and Hatter and the other characters. Under the spectacle there lies a lot of heart [sorry… couldn’t resist], and that makes Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland worth seeing.
Final Grade: A-