A Trippy, Amazing, Sci-fi Fantasy ADVENTURE.
SPOILERS for Alice, the two-part SyFy original miniseries. I sound like an advertisement. I should stop that.
That's right, ADVENTURE. In all capital letters. All this excitement is brought about by the two-night mini-miniseries called Alice that I had only heard of about a day before it was going to air, and then offhandedly. I wasn't even planning on watching it until I realized that nothing else is ever on Sunday nights, and I needed an excuse to not write my paper.
Anyway, Alice. I'll start off by excusing my bias. Stat class kind of compels me to do so. I have a pathetic weakness for anyone with an accent of almost any kind, a top hat or, erm, fedora, a long coat or otherwise eccentric outfit, and aspects of badassery including a killer right hook. Keep that in mind.
With that out of the way, Alice was surprisingly excellent. Before I even saw the first half, I had an idea from the two or so previews that I had seen that it was most likely written or directed by the same person who had done Tin Man. It had, you know, the same updated fairytale gimmick and overly bright settings and characters. I attempted to watch Tin Man when it aired but couldn't make it past the first part. I'm not a particular fan of fantasy, and certainly not one that seemed to be drug-induced, therefore, it was kind of too much for me. Why I disliked its predecessor while finding Alice to be one of the best miniseries' I've seen I still don't understand. Maybe I've grown more tolerant of craziness; or maybe I've gotten a bit more mad since then, or maybe both. That's not the point.
The point is, Alice is the perfect story for escaping reality, at least for a little while between the commercial breaks. It is just bursting with imagination; the settings are stunning and the details are absolutely immaculate; it honestly felt like a whole new world. It makes one say "how could somebody think of something like that? Must be drugs" multiple times. I know I did. My goodness. The city operates hundreds of feet above the ground, but puddles of water reflect the ground and the sky both...the scenes on the edges of the skyscrapers were dizzying: the audience experiences vertigo at the same time as the main character, something I feel is very hard to do, especially in a relatively low-budget film like this one. The imagery...there was just too much for me to mention here; maybe I was just dazzled because I'm still getting used to an HDTV, but at least a part of it was due to the absolute, glittering detail. For one example, the Queen's court was all decked out in impeccable suits, but what made them so unique was that they had their card number on the suits. Like, the ten of clubs. These people don't show up until near the end of the miniseries, but they're worth watching out for. And for some reason I absolutely loved how Hatter and his horse were made of warm brown tones while the White Knight and his noble steed matched in greyscale. Little things. But the little things are what make the movie so compulsively watchable and re-watchable.
The plot, I feel, is pretty mundane, with all the fantasy aspects I dislike; it contains the whole "chosen one" cliche from Harry Potter, to name one story, along with a bit of the White Witch stuff from C.S. Lewis fame and ridiculously powerful objects in possession of an ordinary, young nobody like in Lord of the Rings. Stuff I don't particularly enjoy, along with some predictable plot twists (I knew Jack was involved! Why else would he have the damn ring?) that almost, *almost* got in the way of my amusement with the show.
I say *almost* because of the third point that I'd like to address; that is, the characters.
I consider characters the most important aspect of movies, shows, novels, whatever, as they are the entire reason the audience is interested and involved. They give one somebody to analyze, to cheer on, to cry for, and so on. Alice is saturated with interesting characters, which is the main reason it's so great. Of course I won't mention all of them, but to name a few that, for the interest of brevity, I won't detail; Mad March, Alice's father who had a name at one point but it escapes me, Jack, and the King, all deserve some kind of recognition for being awesome and interesting in their own ways. On to specifics of excellent characterization.
The Queen, to get the one exception out of the way first, was disappointingly stereotypical and devoid of any deeper qualities than the 'selfish dictator' vibe she kept throwing out. For Kathy Bates, this role was pretty lame; although I'm sure it was due to writing more than her acting skills. Because, you know, she's got skills. (Misery.) Now that I've got that out of the way, I'll go to Alice herself. It was an absolutely brilliant move to establish her black belt status early on; thus giving her a reasonable excuse to be a strong, independent, capable young woman without being accused of being a Mary Sue. And her acting was much better than I was expecting, as well, for an apparent nobody. Never underestimate the nobodies, I've learned.
Though the show was comical at heart and didn't exactly need comic relief, the White Knight was brilliant anyway. His elaborate way of speaking, his obnoxious beard, the little song he's always humming, and his facial expressions all kept me laughing. Very well done. The only thing that bothered me about him was more due to plot than character; the scene where he shoots the catapult and believes that he had destroyed the Casino was a wonderful ending for him. It summed up his character quite nicely and tied his story up in a neat little bow--but, when everyone was certain that he was dead (at least I was) he pops back into the show later on! He adds nothing else after that touching scene, and detracts from its meaning for *not* having died then. Call me morbid, but if the writers had been a bit more gutsy and killed more characters off than just Alice's dad (GREAT SCENE BTW, LOVED IT) there could have driven home a much greater emotional impact. It just felt weird having the Knight around after he should have died.
I saved Hatter for last for a reason. Awww. Let me remind you of the note at the top. Hatter has all of the qualities that I ADORE, and Andrew Lee-Potts pulled off the role magnificently. I had only seen him in one other production before this (the pilot episode of Primeval) and wasn't all that impressed. Although, the bias comes in once again when I reveal that I'm not a fan of dinasaurs. Anyway shallow moment: He wasn't NEARLY as hot in Primeval as he is as the Hatter. Holy shit. Review the aspects I mentioned at the start of this increasingly lengthy post as I tell you that Hatter totally blew my mind. He's got that innocent look about him, but as the story progresses, scenes play out and artfully hint at a darker side; the way he handles himself in fistfights, how he doesn't hesitate to use a gun, how he totally kicks ass in the torture scene...wow. To me, he was hands-down (hans down) the star of the show in every sense of the term. I literally squeed when he flipped his hat up in the tiny scene where he pretends to be a traveling magician or whatever. I found myself considering how similar he is to the Doctor...they're similar in how angst clashes with eccentricity, though I believe Hatter has less of a moral standard than his Timelord counterpart. (Of course I had to make a comparison to Doctor Who in this post; they're both science fiction and "End of Time" is uncomfortably close...!) I couldn't get enough of the guy.
Which brings me to the end of the miniseries. DAMN, but that was intense. I knew he'd come back for her (when Alice and Hatter first meet, it was one of those "yeah, they'll be kissing by the end of the movie" things) but I never imagined how well the reuion would be done. I was grinning my face off for at least an hour after the show ended with the (AWWWW) kiss. So stunningly sweet. And his alias was David...nice name, wink wink. Of course, I have one complaint. Shallow moment number two: He was kinda gross without the hat. His hair was all wrong when it wasn't matted down by the hat and I can't say I was disappointed that he didn't have one. At least give him a construction worker helmet or something; he's the Hatter. Jeez. Shallow moment over.
Like I said, it left me all happy and bouncy inside and couldn't very well go to bed with all that happy rolling around. So I decided to read a book for a little while before, like I usually do when I assume I won't be able to fall asleep, but nothing I'd been reading lately seemed right. Jane Eyre was too annoying, Hitchhiker's Guide was too cynical, and for some reason I needed something with the same mood that Alice presented. After perusing my bookcase for kind of a long time, noticing that I had very little whimsical, lovely sort of books piled up in it, I noticed a book that I hadn't touched in a LONG time. It used to be a favorite of mine and I had forgotten all about it. The reason I added this afterword to my review is because I found it so odd that the mood of the book I picked up matched PERFECTLY with Alice. It's called Abarat, by an artist/novelist named Clive Barker, and it even says on the back where quotes from happy critics are kept that it is a mix between Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. (Whoa. While I was looking up a good link to attach, I noticed that there are sequels now! I have to get my hands on those.) Anyway, love the feeling I got as I was getting the same unnatural, fantastical vibe from it as I did Alice, and also the feeling of picking up a long-forgotten, loved book. Some of the pages in the middle were unattached but I figure that's due more to cruddy binding than love, but the point still stands. It's a beautiful book, and even has full-color pictures to go along with the text because the imagery is too vivid for words. I know it sounds dramatic, but it's true. Some people are just so imaginative that I cannot stand it. I'd love to be able to create worlds out of my head like they do. Until I figure out that secret, I'll just sit back and enjoy them in the works of others.
I apologize for any confusing sentences and jumpy train-of-thought. I didn't really organize any of this before I wrote it.
That's right, ADVENTURE. In all capital letters. All this excitement is brought about by the two-night mini-miniseries called Alice that I had only heard of about a day before it was going to air, and then offhandedly. I wasn't even planning on watching it until I realized that nothing else is ever on Sunday nights, and I needed an excuse to not write my paper.
Anyway, Alice. I'll start off by excusing my bias. Stat class kind of compels me to do so. I have a pathetic weakness for anyone with an accent of almost any kind, a top hat or, erm, fedora, a long coat or otherwise eccentric outfit, and aspects of badassery including a killer right hook. Keep that in mind.
With that out of the way, Alice was surprisingly excellent. Before I even saw the first half, I had an idea from the two or so previews that I had seen that it was most likely written or directed by the same person who had done Tin Man. It had, you know, the same updated fairytale gimmick and overly bright settings and characters. I attempted to watch Tin Man when it aired but couldn't make it past the first part. I'm not a particular fan of fantasy, and certainly not one that seemed to be drug-induced, therefore, it was kind of too much for me. Why I disliked its predecessor while finding Alice to be one of the best miniseries' I've seen I still don't understand. Maybe I've grown more tolerant of craziness; or maybe I've gotten a bit more mad since then, or maybe both. That's not the point.
The point is, Alice is the perfect story for escaping reality, at least for a little while between the commercial breaks. It is just bursting with imagination; the settings are stunning and the details are absolutely immaculate; it honestly felt like a whole new world. It makes one say "how could somebody think of something like that? Must be drugs" multiple times. I know I did. My goodness. The city operates hundreds of feet above the ground, but puddles of water reflect the ground and the sky both...the scenes on the edges of the skyscrapers were dizzying: the audience experiences vertigo at the same time as the main character, something I feel is very hard to do, especially in a relatively low-budget film like this one. The imagery...there was just too much for me to mention here; maybe I was just dazzled because I'm still getting used to an HDTV, but at least a part of it was due to the absolute, glittering detail. For one example, the Queen's court was all decked out in impeccable suits, but what made them so unique was that they had their card number on the suits. Like, the ten of clubs. These people don't show up until near the end of the miniseries, but they're worth watching out for. And for some reason I absolutely loved how Hatter and his horse were made of warm brown tones while the White Knight and his noble steed matched in greyscale. Little things. But the little things are what make the movie so compulsively watchable and re-watchable.
The plot, I feel, is pretty mundane, with all the fantasy aspects I dislike; it contains the whole "chosen one" cliche from Harry Potter, to name one story, along with a bit of the White Witch stuff from C.S. Lewis fame and ridiculously powerful objects in possession of an ordinary, young nobody like in Lord of the Rings. Stuff I don't particularly enjoy, along with some predictable plot twists (I knew Jack was involved! Why else would he have the damn ring?) that almost, *almost* got in the way of my amusement with the show.
I say *almost* because of the third point that I'd like to address; that is, the characters.
I consider characters the most important aspect of movies, shows, novels, whatever, as they are the entire reason the audience is interested and involved. They give one somebody to analyze, to cheer on, to cry for, and so on. Alice is saturated with interesting characters, which is the main reason it's so great. Of course I won't mention all of them, but to name a few that, for the interest of brevity, I won't detail; Mad March, Alice's father who had a name at one point but it escapes me, Jack, and the King, all deserve some kind of recognition for being awesome and interesting in their own ways. On to specifics of excellent characterization.
The Queen, to get the one exception out of the way first, was disappointingly stereotypical and devoid of any deeper qualities than the 'selfish dictator' vibe she kept throwing out. For Kathy Bates, this role was pretty lame; although I'm sure it was due to writing more than her acting skills. Because, you know, she's got skills. (Misery.) Now that I've got that out of the way, I'll go to Alice herself. It was an absolutely brilliant move to establish her black belt status early on; thus giving her a reasonable excuse to be a strong, independent, capable young woman without being accused of being a Mary Sue. And her acting was much better than I was expecting, as well, for an apparent nobody. Never underestimate the nobodies, I've learned.
Though the show was comical at heart and didn't exactly need comic relief, the White Knight was brilliant anyway. His elaborate way of speaking, his obnoxious beard, the little song he's always humming, and his facial expressions all kept me laughing. Very well done. The only thing that bothered me about him was more due to plot than character; the scene where he shoots the catapult and believes that he had destroyed the Casino was a wonderful ending for him. It summed up his character quite nicely and tied his story up in a neat little bow--but, when everyone was certain that he was dead (at least I was) he pops back into the show later on! He adds nothing else after that touching scene, and detracts from its meaning for *not* having died then. Call me morbid, but if the writers had been a bit more gutsy and killed more characters off than just Alice's dad (GREAT SCENE BTW, LOVED IT) there could have driven home a much greater emotional impact. It just felt weird having the Knight around after he should have died.
I saved Hatter for last for a reason. Awww. Let me remind you of the note at the top. Hatter has all of the qualities that I ADORE, and Andrew Lee-Potts pulled off the role magnificently. I had only seen him in one other production before this (the pilot episode of Primeval) and wasn't all that impressed. Although, the bias comes in once again when I reveal that I'm not a fan of dinasaurs. Anyway shallow moment: He wasn't NEARLY as hot in Primeval as he is as the Hatter. Holy shit. Review the aspects I mentioned at the start of this increasingly lengthy post as I tell you that Hatter totally blew my mind. He's got that innocent look about him, but as the story progresses, scenes play out and artfully hint at a darker side; the way he handles himself in fistfights, how he doesn't hesitate to use a gun, how he totally kicks ass in the torture scene...wow. To me, he was hands-down (hans down) the star of the show in every sense of the term. I literally squeed when he flipped his hat up in the tiny scene where he pretends to be a traveling magician or whatever. I found myself considering how similar he is to the Doctor...they're similar in how angst clashes with eccentricity, though I believe Hatter has less of a moral standard than his Timelord counterpart. (Of course I had to make a comparison to Doctor Who in this post; they're both science fiction and "End of Time" is uncomfortably close...!) I couldn't get enough of the guy.
Which brings me to the end of the miniseries. DAMN, but that was intense. I knew he'd come back for her (when Alice and Hatter first meet, it was one of those "yeah, they'll be kissing by the end of the movie" things) but I never imagined how well the reuion would be done. I was grinning my face off for at least an hour after the show ended with the (AWWWW) kiss. So stunningly sweet. And his alias was David...nice name, wink wink. Of course, I have one complaint. Shallow moment number two: He was kinda gross without the hat. His hair was all wrong when it wasn't matted down by the hat and I can't say I was disappointed that he didn't have one. At least give him a construction worker helmet or something; he's the Hatter. Jeez. Shallow moment over.
Like I said, it left me all happy and bouncy inside and couldn't very well go to bed with all that happy rolling around. So I decided to read a book for a little while before, like I usually do when I assume I won't be able to fall asleep, but nothing I'd been reading lately seemed right. Jane Eyre was too annoying, Hitchhiker's Guide was too cynical, and for some reason I needed something with the same mood that Alice presented. After perusing my bookcase for kind of a long time, noticing that I had very little whimsical, lovely sort of books piled up in it, I noticed a book that I hadn't touched in a LONG time. It used to be a favorite of mine and I had forgotten all about it. The reason I added this afterword to my review is because I found it so odd that the mood of the book I picked up matched PERFECTLY with Alice. It's called Abarat, by an artist/novelist named Clive Barker, and it even says on the back where quotes from happy critics are kept that it is a mix between Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. (Whoa. While I was looking up a good link to attach, I noticed that there are sequels now! I have to get my hands on those.) Anyway, love the feeling I got as I was getting the same unnatural, fantastical vibe from it as I did Alice, and also the feeling of picking up a long-forgotten, loved book. Some of the pages in the middle were unattached but I figure that's due more to cruddy binding than love, but the point still stands. It's a beautiful book, and even has full-color pictures to go along with the text because the imagery is too vivid for words. I know it sounds dramatic, but it's true. Some people are just so imaginative that I cannot stand it. I'd love to be able to create worlds out of my head like they do. Until I figure out that secret, I'll just sit back and enjoy them in the works of others.
I apologize for any confusing sentences and jumpy train-of-thought. I didn't really organize any of this before I wrote it.