Tim Burton's take on "Alice in Wonderland".

[Anthus]

I'm basically gonna copy and paste my post I made at ZCR. For anyone else, who saw it, what did you think?

So, I saw it last night at midnight, and I was not overly impressed. It was an -okay- movie. It had its funny moments, but it is NOT the Alice in Wonderland from way back when. It is a sequel, taking place 13 years later. It has some sequences from the first two books... Well, okay, it has about three. Again, it is not a terrible movie, but it is hard to take it seriously as there is very little character development, and the only consistency is Alice's reluctance to take up the sword (literally).

Once again, we have a classic colab of Depp, and Burton. Story is sacrificed for "style", and we get a watered down, generic, gothic version of Wonderland that has been taken over by the Red Queen. The lush, and vivid gardens, and forest so vividly depicted in Carrol's books are no where to be found (at least not in the later 3/4 of the movie). Burton draws a world dense with dead trees, giant mushrooms, and barren hillsides. One thing I will admit is the Red Queen's castle looks pretty cool. But that's about it. There isn't very much wonder in this wonderland. It looks more like I did a shitload of acid, then went an played Fallout 3.

The Mad Hatter, and the Red Queen are probably the most interesting characters. The Hatter may only be so at the expense of Depp's ability to play the same "crazy" character in every film after "Pirates". I'm not a Depp hater, but I'm not his biggest fan either. I can say that his performance was good. It was interesting to say the least, even if he can't get his accent straight.

Bottom line is, this is not Alice in Wonderland. This is some new concoction littered with GC, and old characters. The charm, and magic of the original is nowhere, and the end result is ultimately uninspired, and boring by the original standards of Alice, and the magic of her dream world. Lewis Carrol did not write it, therefore, it is not wonderland.

The only thing saving it is that fact that there are still some okay parts. I'm not so full of myself to not admit when I like something despite its creator. There are some nice GC sequences, but that's about it.

Alice, no. An okay CG movie? Sure.

Seeing the flash back sequences only makes me think how cool a remake now would be of the older stories. Hopefully, Burton would not be doing it though.

My score? 7.5/10. Not bad, by normal standards, but not good by Alice standards.



(And in case people here don't know, I really don't like Tim Burton o:)

[Brasel]

I like Tim Burton, but I really don't have any interest in seeing this. It seems like they played up the Mad Hatter's part just because Johnny Depp was playing him. I share the same feelings of Depp as you do. I just don't really care about him too much. I'll probably see it on TV some day years from now and enjoy it as a time killer.

[Darth Marsden]

I'm ignoring this in favour of American McGee's Alice. The true sequel if ever there was one.

[Anthus]

I'm ignoring this in favour of American McGee's Alice. The true sequel if ever there was one.

Isn't that about Alice going on a killing spree or something?

[rock_nog]

I'm still interested in seeing it, though I've altered my expectations based on what I've heard about it. Mainly, I figure, I loved his version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, despite its lack of popularity, so I shouldn't dismiss this outright. The main fault with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is that he put his style before the story, and based on what I've heard, this is what happened with Alice in Wonderland, too. But I dunno, I'm entertained by his style enough that I can accept that the story suffers.

[Icey]

Do yourself a favor and watch Shutter Island instead.

[Lemon]

It's terrible. The best way I can describe it is stupid.

Reasoning and lots o spoilers below.












Opening scenes are fine, has a terrific setup. Then you learn that Alice is going to find a sword and slay a beast (the Jabberwocky). Then, you watch Alice find a sword and slay a beast for 2 hours. That's the entire movie. Alice finding a sword, slaying a beast, and lots of pretty imagery.

All the characters are fantastically imagined, but it's all wasted on a plot that is completely devoid of any of the wit that Carroll put into those amazing stories. The dialog is boring and dull, because it's exactly what you would expect to be said. The only interesting things said in it are the one or two snips they swiped from the original novels.

It's not a ridiculous plot. There's no fun mad senselessness. All it is is a stupid generic fantasy movie storyline with Carroll's characters smashed in.

The only highlights are the pretty pictures, and really cool visuals for all the characters (besides the Hatter who is just... wat? the entire movie.), the Cheshire Cat, and Alice. It's such a damn pity it was all wasted on such a terrible script.


EDIT: Also, I agree with you that watching the flashback scenes made me think a remake would have been better. They really should have, because they are completely incapable of making anything creative, or whimsy, or surreal.

[Aliem]

I was really disappointed. I was hoping for a great story and an epic ending. What I got was lame as all hell. It was incredibly anti climactic. It was okay, sure, but it absolutely did not live up to the year of hype surrounding it. As for the Hatter's lack of stable accent, I think that was an intentional character trait: when he was 'goofy', he had a lisp. When he was psychotic, he was Scottish. Still, his was the only character I enjoyed.

But, yeah, I agree with Icey; if you want to watch a truly good film, go to Shutter Island. Alice in Wonderland was a half-finished film that started in the middle of the story.

[SUCCESSOR]

It was an epic fail. If the y were gonna toss us the lamest plot a 3year old could write and throw out everything else that made Wonderland an amazing place they could atleast have given us great charactors that actually make draw you in. Instead we get Johnny Depp disturbingpsycho antics that are just creepy and remind me of people i dont want to sit next to me on a bus, An alice that is just irritating and boring, and a whole cast of gimmicky characters that just make me wish they served a purpose other than make me wish they werr apart of a movie they should have made. The whole movie was based of a poem that is composed mostly of made up words. who backs an idea like that? the entire movie was just had me wishing i was seeing the original. the whole grim and gloom aspect was completely unwelcome.Wonderland is supposed to be fun and this movie was no fun.


If this was a separate movie in no way tied to a masterpiece of literature and a classic movie it would still suck balls.

[moocow]

I liked it! lol.

[Orion]

I was thoroughly bored throughout the movie. I really haven't been a fan of Tim Burton's last several movies. They tend to be pretty, yes, but nothing more. The only redeeming quality was the red queen - loved her.

[Anthus]

All the characters are fantastically imagined, but it's all wasted on a plot that is completely devoid of any of the wit that Carroll put into those amazing stories. The dialog is boring and dull, because it's exactly what you would expect to be said. The only interesting things said in it are the one or two snips they swiped from the original novels.

It's not a ridiculous plot. There's no fun mad senselessness. All it is is a stupid generic fantasy movie storyline with Carroll's characters smashed in.

This.

Moocow, I don't want to come off as an asshole, but I'm just curious to hear from someone who enjoyed it: why? What did you like about it?

My biggest problem with the movie is the drab and boring wasteland wonderland, and lack of charm found in the original books. Pretty big gripes. If you can grit your teeth through that, I guess the pictures are pretty enough, mostly.

Dunno if anyone else has seen this, but this 1999 mini-series (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164993/) is not half bad. It keeps closer to the books than even the Disney version (which was actually pretty different, IMO). The only thing that I don't like about this live action series is that they kinda added some back story as to why Alice "escapes" to Wonderland. Other than that, it is decent. Plus, this said back story is only really mentioned a few times.

I'd love to see something more like this made with today's technology. This is what I was hoping Tim Horton's versions would be like.

[moocow]

Moocow, I don't want to come off as an asshole, but I'm just curious to hear from someone who enjoyed it: why? What did you like about it?

Because I'm a dumb girl and I like pretty things and Johnny Depp?

I dunno, I was entertained, which is what matters the most to me. The story itself was kind of boring, and I really like the original Disney version the best, for sure. But I liked it, I thought it was cool.

[Anthus]

I dunno, I was entertained

Fair enough. That's all that matters.

[Darth Marsden]

Isn't that about Alice going on a killing spree or something?Ha... not quite.

The plot is that Alice loses both her parents in a fire which she barely escapes from, and she ends up in a mental institute. The game is about her returning to Wonderland, which is now a dark and twisted version of the one from the books/film/whatever, and literally 'conquering her demons'. Here's the intro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHLQJXQUhAw), which sets the tone of the game nicely. Look at her wrists when she's in the hospital bed...

The game came with a second 'manual', which was actually the diary of her doctor. Lots o' good backstory in there, telling of her sessions where she babbles on about Wonderland in confused, disjointed ways. You can download a pdf file of it here (http://www.replacementdocs.com/download.php?view.293). I suggest you do, it's actually quite an interesting read, weather you play the game or not.

And, just to put the icing on the cake, there's going to be a proper sequel to the game sometime next year. Yay!

[Anthus]

^ I actually watched an LP of it after asking that question, and kinda forgot to edit my post :p

In all honesty, I didn't care for it too much. I did read the journal thing though, and it was interesting (taken out of the 'Wonderland' context). It kind of ends abruptly. It looks like a fun game but for me, Alice in Wonderland has always been about bullshit, and nonsense, not some dark perversion set on by survivor's guilt. The magic, and senselessness, and vivid dream world have always held my interest more than any attempt at making Alice epic.

It is a story about a seven and a half year old's dream. I'd like to leave it at that.

[Darth Marsden]

Ok. Not as if I was forcing you to play it or anything. Just saying I preferred it to Burton's re-imagining. :)