Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton is one of my favourite directors and I'm not big on directors. However, Tim Burton has a vision I admire, he's not afraid to be bold or a little crazy. Perhaps if there is one line that is perfect for Tim Burton. All the best people are mad. It doesn't exclude him or Johnny Depp.
However, Alice in Wonderland wasn't really all that wonderful to be honest. I love Tim Burton, love Sweeney Todd, Nightmare Before Christmas and Sleepy Hollow. He really has his ups and downs with films, his Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was pretty bad. Still, I suppose that I was expecting more from Alice and Wonderland. It was dark and dreary, it lacked the shimmer and glow that the original Alice stories had. The nonsense that gave the story it's delights and amusement were mysteriously gone. The actors, for the most part, were the shining stars of this otherwise fairly disappointing film, especially Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter. Christopher Lee and Alan Rickman were also delightful in their voice acting. The most disappointing for me was Mia Wasikowska was Alice. I felt she lacked the heart and spirit that Alice had. Also fairly disappointing was Anne Hathaway, who is off her rocker in a weird way as the White Queen, overdoing her poise a little too much.
The film is about 19 year-old Alice Kingsley, who falls down a rabbit hole and into the the underground world of Underland (haha, get it, Underland as it is under the land). There, she meets up with those who remember her from being a curious seven year old and wish her to help them to overthrow the evil Red Queen (AKA the Queen of Hearts).
The costumes were beautiful and so were the effects. It was truly pretty to look at, but rather dry as a film. As a true fan of Alice, it wasn't enjoyable at all, with the few exceptions.
Spoiler free