Film Review: Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton’s reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass is fun and visually spectacular, weaving together live and animated action. Taking inspiration from Carroll’s plots and incorporating his magical characters, the film is well suited to its 3D format. Burton’s storyline differs from the source material, with a teenage Alice, returning to act as Wonderland’s heroine.

We meet 19-year-old Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska, Defiance, Amelia) on the cusp of womanhood, confined by the stuffy Victorian society. Alice only remembers her childhood visit to Wonderland as a recurring dream. But during a garden party, where she is to be engaged, once again Alice is tempted back down the rabbit-hole by the White Rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen, Frost/Nixon, New Moon). Returning to Wonderland, Alice is reunited with comfortingly familiar Carroll creations such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas, Little Britain), Absolem (voiced by Alan Rickman) and The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd, Public Enemies).

It is nice to see a central female character who isn’t passive. Alice is ready to speak her mind and defend her friends. Australian actress, Wasikowska is delightful in this starring part. Walking the line between childhood and adulthood, she gives Alice a lovely determinedness as well as a wide-eyed innocence.

But as it frequently happens, especially in Burton films, the characters with a bit of menace are the most compelling to watch on screen. Helena Bonham-Carter (Wings of a Dove, Fight Club) revels in her role as the temperamental Red Queen. With a fabulously exaggerated bulbous head, the Queen’s murderous vanity sees her courtiers wearing similarly enormous prosthetic body parts. With a penchant for cutting off the heads of those who displease her, the Red Queen rules by terror with the gangly Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) by her side.

Special mention has to go to the exquisite costuming from two-time Academy-award winner, Colleen Atwood (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha). Atwood, who has collaborated with Burton before, truly completes the characters with her wardrobe choices. Alice wears so many beautiful dresses with Atwood working her magic on the tricky problem of Alice’s continuous growing and shrinking.

It is hard not to judge what is essentially a children’s film, by adult standards, given the film’s exalted source material. Linda Woolverton’s (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) screenplay will probably please the film’s target younger audience more easily than jaded adult fans of Lewis Carroll’s original novels. Some may find moments like The Mad Hatter’s dance (with a hip-hop flavour) and Avril Lavigne’s pop tune at the end, a little cringe-worthy.

Burton has created something exciting that captures the nostalgia of the original characters, whilst still giving his audience a taste of his unique filmic vision. Alice in Wonderland’s excellent central performances and the stupendous voice work provided by so many British stalwarts including Stephen Fry, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton and Christopher Lee, add to amazing visual effects, making the overall experience wondrous and fun.

Alice in Wonderland is released nationally in Australia on the 4^th March

Director: Tim Burton

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Crispin Glover, Anne Hathaway, Michael Sheen, Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, Alan Rickman, Barbara Windsor

Thanks to the lovely people at Disney we have 10 double passes to give away to Trespass’ Australian readers. To be in the draw to win a double pass, entrants must be subscribed to Trespass’ fortnightly newsletter. And if you’re not already, simply pop your email address here. Then email your name and postal address to olivia@trespassmag.com by the 10th of March.

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