Another Disney recipe gone almost right

Courtesy of www.filmofilia.com

Alice in Wonderland is visually pleasing in many aspects, and uses a similar color palette as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However, it is a movie that was planned for the box office. The mere distribution of it through Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista, as well as its PG rating mean that it could have been so much more. Burton's creativity in terms of plot and imagery is diminished by a distribution company that tends to limit movies to children related themes.

The cast, nevertheless, is picked masterfully with amazing performances by some of Tim Burton's favorites in the roles of The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). However, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is far from what Lewis Carroll imagined her to be in his books, and in this movie she seems to only be a catalyst for propagating the comical moments of every other cast member, rather than being a major character herself. She is a woman playing a male role and it feels like Burton just wanted to restart a feminist fire in hearts and souls of all those people who think the 18th century was unfair to women. She doesn't display any characteristics of a frightened 18 year old girl being sent into a world she was terrified of in the beginning.

Burton immerses the viewers into the story from the beginning by making a very short recap of Alice's childhood, including remembering the dreams she had about ‘Wonderland since she was a child.' We cut to a scene a few years later where she is supposed to accept a marriage offer by a British lord. However, Alice gets distracted by a white rabbit in a waistcoat, pointing agitatedly to a pocket watch, which is probably the most memorable symbol of both this movie and the Carroll books. She follows the rabbit and eventually falls into the rabbit hole, in pretty much the same manner as the original story. From there the story actually becomes linear, which is not in accordance with the constant chaos that dominated the books and the original 1951 movie. Alice meets all kinds of funny characters, including the famous smiling Cheshire cat, which has to be the most beloved character in this film. Alice's purpose is to defeat the Red Queen, who has unlawfully taken control of Underland, and to kill the most formidable beast in the kingdom.

The plot is a bit predictable and follows age-old recipes, including having an old creature giving existentialist, experienced remarks and advice, brilliantly played by Alan Rickman. It is an enjoyable experience and a movie I recommend you to see - but it is far from being brilliant, and I think everybody agrees that Tim Burton can do so much more than this. However, one of the last scenes of the movie - a battle of two armies on a chessboard - contains some of the best imagery I have seen in a movie, and lifts the entire film one star up.

Burton undoubtedly can be considered one of the greatest visual artists that cinematography has ever seen, he is a Picasso of film who might only be appreciated later on. At this point, though, I feel a gap in my soul after seeing Alice in Wonderland. It feels unfinished, and I really wanted to see that blue cat more often. Oh well...