Anyone can have it all in Wonderland

Tim Burton’s new rendition of Alice in Wonderland is bringing something to every person in the audience. Whether you like adventure, action, or comedies, Alice in Wonderland has it. This wonderful film brought more life to the previously cartooned movie and, of course, Burton brought his own twist and unmistakable signature to the screen.

The movie begins with a more in-depth pre-story (before Alice falls into the hole) which provided an interesting and new prospective. I felt the pre-story helped make Alice, played by Mia Wasikowska, falling into the hole more meaningful which added purpose to the film.  It also provided some parallels from the characters in the real world to the characters in Wonderland.

After Alice fell into the hole, the audience got to fall not only into a world of wonder, but also into a world filled with adventure, action, and of course some humor as well. I had the opportunity to see this move in 3D which it made the fall all that more interesting. I could feel myself falling into the hole ducking various objects flying at me. Once in Wonderland, I could see the bugs, the dust in the air, everything I would expect to see in an outdoor environment.

While Alice is in the world, we go on a journey with her. What kind of a journey? Well, I believe that is in the eye of the viewer. To me, Alice, was on a journey to find the strength in herself to do she needed to do. She had to decide what was best for her and not what everyone else wanted her to do. She encounters many characters, one of the most memorable being the Mad Hatter played by Johnny Depp.

Depp delivered yet another unforgettable character. His quirky, child-at-heart personality, and impeccable talent was evident throughout this movie. Though I have heard many say he did not shine, I believe he played up the character perfectly. He was not meant to be the center of attention and therefore, he was not.

As the Mad Hatter, he shared background stories about Wonderland and explained the feud between the White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway, and the Red Queen, played by Helena Bonham-Carter. He also shared with Alice what she was meant to do in Wonderland, she was going to determine their fate.

After Alice meets the Mad Hatter, everything seems to abruptly happen. She continues to meet various characters to help or try to stop her on her journey. In the end, it is a series of action packed fighting.

The March Hare, voiced by Paul Whitehouse, played an excellent counter to Depp’s character. He was eccentric, crazy, and a joy to watch. The voice made the character jump to life and made the crazy March Hare seem even wackier.

Bonham-Carter also showed off her acting talent making her character, the Red Queen, a hateful one. She also showed different sides to the Red Queen which I would have not expected to see. Carter showed how self-conscious the character really is about her rather large head. The queen only befriended people who had larger body parts such as noses, ears, and bellies. Everyone else was considered a commoner.

One actor I was not overly impressed with was Hathaway. The White Queen seemed to be too nice and the characterization seemed too forced.  I do not think Hathaway is quite the stereotypical Burton actor as well. She is not creepy or dark in any way and maybe this was why she was cast as the White Queen.

Still, the characterization, costuming, and acting was phenomenal. It provided a quirkiness to the film and added more to the story.

Overall, I think Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was a great follow-up story to what we all saw when we were children. I highly recommend going to see this show if you have not had the opportunity to do so, if you can manage to view the film in 3D even better. I give Alice in Wonderland five stars for a great cast, plot, and imagery.