No wonder in Wonderland :\
I had such high hopes for this film! I guess I was fooled by the artsiness/edginess of the character designs and costuming, because I didn't pay any attention to what they were actually selling. I guess some part of me expected it to be like Shutter Island crossed with Where the Wild Things Are with a Narnia twist, but alas, the hype did not deliver. :(
Alice was another romp in princesspower Disneyland with recycled characters and an awkward attempt at a "modern" ending. The recycled characters shouldn't have come as a surprise, considering the source material, but with Tim Burton behind the helm, I was hoping to get a little more depth and edginess behind the Madness of the world and its characters. What we get instead is an ensemble cast only existing in context of Alice (complete with waving-ensemble farewell scene!), madness played as madness and intensely awkward chemistry between Alice and the Hatter that just falls short of the great epic amnesia-ridden, generation-spanning Romance it's trying to be.
(Seriously, if McAdams' Irene was almost "too young" to be considered a romantic interest for Downey Jr.'s Holmes, consider the inappropriate sexual tension between Alice and the Hatter, played out to full lip-pouting, glistening-eyed capacity in the final fifteen minutes of the film. I usually ship it all, but this potential pairing had me cringing and twitching in full seizure mode.)
The Red Queen was the only one really worth watching it for, the only character played with a modicum of believable vulnerability. The only backstory we get from her is one line-- "It should be mine, I'm the eldest!" but it's enough to understand where she's coming from. I kept waiting for the catch with the White Queen's, which didn't come (beyond a few choice-placed gags). Could have been a good character, what a shame.
The only thing I hated more than anything were the portrait-perfect resolutions of all the tensions between Alice and her family / would-be fiancé. And that bit with China. Hong Kong is not that far from China, Alice. I guess now that Disney tells us China is a BFD hopefully the young'uns will pay attention. Hooray for another cultural awareness notch on the collective belt!
Other peeves!
The young Alice wore so much freaking make-up in her bedtime scene I thought I was watching JonBenét in Wonderland. More ingenue, less beauty queen please. BUT OH WAIT THIS IS DISNEY NEVER MIND
What did my f-listers think? I'm curious... maybe I'm overthinking/overreacting to what should just be a fun family movie.