Escape to the Movies: Alice in Wonderland

[TraumaHound]

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, I noticed no one's mentioned the Disney Channel's series "Adventures in Wonderland [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_in_Wonderland]". I watched a handful of eps during its run, having 2 little sisters who watched a lot of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon at that time (early 90's) and I thought it was an interesting, low-budget twist to Alice.

Spoiler: Adventures in Wonderland title sequence

...yipes, look at how HUGE the shoulderpads are on Alice's jacket! 90's fashion was just ridiculous (love the Hammer-pants on Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, too!)

 

[yellowhead]

I'm off to see this anyway, but i won't jump to conclusions because one awesome critic doesn't like something. =P

 

[ad5x5]

I saw this yesterday (in 3D on an IMAX screen). Must say I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Good characters, good pacing and good themes/comments running through it with so many levels to enjoy it on.

Loved the references in the 'real' world to things in Wonderland.

I'm going to have to disagree with MB and a lot of people on here though - this is not a movie about good versus evil.
In fact the only character that came close to being evil was the Knave.

The Red Queen of Hearts is more a character who is misguided and manipulated by the people around here (most notably the Knave). She seems to be someone who was denied her birthright and has been fighting to reclaim it, egged on by the knave.

The jabberwocky is more of a soldier than an evil character - the same as the card soldiers.


It could also be argued that there are no evil characters in the story at all since everything is controlled by the scroll - if there is no free will, there is no such thing as evil as you have no choice in the matter.

 

[Midniqht]

Despite what he says, I actually liked it. Was it absolutely phenomenal? No, it wasn't, but I did think it was worth seeing. I actually enjoyed the fact that Depp & Carter took more screentime. The movie was a lot darker than it lets off in trailers, and I like the way that Burton portrayed it. Most of the time, I agree with his reviews, but on this one I'm going to have to disagree.

Don't let Bob's review stop you from going to see this movie and forming your own damn opinions. 1 review should not be the deciding factor in whether you choose to see this or not.

 

[AwesomeExpress]

I say you're wrong Bob. I liked Alice in Wonderland very much, and it was exactly what I would have expected from Tim Burton. Your review had made me worried, but I came out of that theater feeling satisfied and happy.

 

[Armanox15]

Saw it before about 2 hours and I have to say that I .... liked it. But Mad Hatter + Sword = ?BUHMF?

 

[wooty]

I just came back from seeing it and I rather enjoyed, I wasnt expecting for it light the world on fire but it was definately entertaining.

Alos placing Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat was a smart move, his voice was well suited to play that role

 

[Towels]

Yeah, since I started seeing promotional artwork being sold at Target, Wal-Mart, and Hot Topic before the movie was even out yet, this review was pretty much what I expected. (Well, except for the Mad Hatter with a broadsword.) Thank you for confirming my suspicions, Movie Bob.

And "LOOK AT ME!!!!111!!!Eleven" was halarious.

 

[Xocrates]

I was actually looking forward to see this movie, not because of Tim Burton (really, really don't like his stuff (except Coraline

Tim Burton was not involved in any way with Coraline. The movie was by Henry Sellick, who directed Nightmare Before Christmas (of which Burton created the concept and was a producer of).

 

[Nomanslander]

I'm thinking about seeing this just as a spectacle....in itself might be pretty entertaining.

 

[Joshic Shin]

Bob, I usually find your reviews to be spot on, but this time you seemed way off base.

Tim Burton's portrayal of Alice was a wonderful movie to watch. Alice herself stays fairly close to how I remember the character from the first book, very innocent to a world full of lunatics. It's a story of a young woman maturing into a young, confident adult. It's also about finding strength in yourself to believe in the impossible.

Have these things been done? Yes, and they've been done better for sure. But I do believe that you've already recently talked about how every trope has been done and we're all just reusing them. I'm merely finding it odd that you boiled down the movie to a basic formula when it should be seen for what it is, a richly decorated and crazy story with a story that plays second fiddle to the oddness. Which, seeing the source material, means this pays great tribute to the source material.

As for the last act, I was hardly bothered by it. Was it odd that the Mad Hatter was using a sword to fight the Knave, yes. I won't deny you that, but let us recall that even the Hatter was disturbed by his actions once the fighting was over. This ending was being led to through the whole movie, it had to happen. If it helps, we could all put on our big artsy pants and look at it as an analogy of how we must all confront the demons of our lives, the Jaberwocky, and own up to these things by making them on our own. Honestly though, this movie was a delight to watch. Once more Burton does what he does best, make a visually entertaining film that is a joy to see to the finish. Watching a Burton film is like going through an art gallery with a far more disturbed mind flashing images at you constantly.

 

[Joshic Shin]

I've still not quite been able to figure out why Burton would not just take American McGee's Alice and make that, if he was just going to take American McGee's alice and make that but not really *wink wink, nudge nudge*.

It's the same story. Tim Burton played Alice, and thought "Hey, this would be awesome if, if like.. *I* did it! Heckyeah." But he's a decade late. And I think I like the story from the game better. Except that damned water level, with the ants and the leaves.


I really wish Tim Burton would go direct a movie that isn't just "Hey, what if I was the one who did that?". I really wish Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter‎ would go act in movies that weren't just Tim Burton's version of someone else's story. These movies aren't exactly.. well, I have a hard time calling them outright bad, but they're not good. They can make good movies. Please. Go do so. Make a different movie. Play a different character. We'll still like you.

You mean like the Corpse Bride, or Nightmare Before Christmas, or Ed Wood, or Big Fish, etc. Burton does what attracts him. Just be thankful that he was ballsy enough to bring us our first real Batman movie.

As for the actors...well, they do act in other stuff. Frequently. Like, ya know, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. I suggest relaxing and just enjoy when these three come together to make a good movie. You'll like life a lot more.

 

[wooty]

It was definately a lot more entertaining than all of these samey teen comedies that keep rolling off the production lines these days. Nice also to see a bit of fresh infused imagination and madness on the big screen rather than another movie about teenagers trying to have sex and falling over

 

[littlerudi08107]

Movie Bob, you are truly an oracle of truth and justice

 

[Void(null)]

So I just got back from watching Alice (Im simply going to call it Alice because it certainly was not Alice in Wonderland.)

It was a visual spectacle with some great performances and well worth seeing... but the plot is The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe with some Wonderland fan service. As in, Alice loses her clothes an awful lot, wears emo bands and has some sexual tension with Johnny Depp.

Not terrible, and missing this in 3D at the theater would be a crying shame. But the plot is thin and done before by another well known piece from the period.

Also, why the fuck was the Mad Hatter randomly Scottish? I don't remember that from the books...

I will say I am really glad that Movie Bob lowered my expectations of this flick dramatically. I was able to enjoy it far more, because I was expecting it to be way, way worse than it is, so I was pleasantly surprised and entertained rather than massively disappointing that one of my favorite literary works had been bastardized for the harry Potter/Avril Lavigne generation. (The song plays at the very very very end for the credits... you can easily blank it out.)

 

[ifirth]

Its a claymore, not a broadsword, he's meant to be Scottish, hence the kilt.

It actually amused me that he donned such wear for the battle.

The chesire cat was fantastic and 2 hours of him would have done.

 

[Void(null)]

Its a claymore, not a broadsword, he's meant to be Scottish, hence the kilt.

It actually amused me that he donned such wear for the battle.

I was expecting The Mad Hatter to scream:

"You can take our Wonderland, but you'll never take our Freedom!"

 

[LoganAsh]

Seems a bit rich, to accuse you of saying controversial things, when the likes of ZP can make as many controversial criticisms as desired and still enjoy wide spread praise.

That said, I really enjoyed this review. My major problem with the "sequal" is one that I think was taken up towards the end of the video. When I watched Alice in Wonderland as a child, the scariest thing I found wasn't so much the individual weirdness of each character (not that that didn't freak me out) but rather it was the fact that the whole world Alice enters seemed to be lacking in any objective values, any universal sense of what was normal in the first place. There was no concept of right, wrong, good, evil, stange, normal. It was deeply un-nerving to feel that there could be a place where any sense of the word meaning was removed. Things simply happened in Wonderland without a need of cause or purpose.

This movie destroys that. Now it's all about Good beating Evil. Now Alice has a purpose, as do all the other characters. There's a clear sense of narrative. There's even organisation and co-operation. In Wonderland, I never got the idea that people would really pay much attention to one another, let alone actually organising with each other! To be honest, i'm not a huge fan of Burton to start with. His movies all begin to feel very much the same in terms of design and it does seem to be aimed at the "Hot Topic" market somewhat.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I'll still go see this. I watch reviews to compare with my own opinions, rather than to be swayed by another person's words.

 

[Yokai]

I sense Moviebob has a similar disposition towards Tim Burton as Yahtzee has towards the Total War series...
Still, the idea of turning something as whimsical and bizarre as Alice in Wonderland into a fantasy action film does seem a little stupid. I'll watch it and judge for myself.