Alice In Wonderland

Tim Burton’s newest creation “Alice in Wonderland,” fails to match the images and thoughtfulness of its original source material, but his love of the fanatical characters keeps the movie afloat.

Burton and his crew took an entirely new script, a sequel stemming from Lewis Carroll’s timeless tales and ran with it. Gone are the riddles and most of the songs of the books, replaced by more CGI animals and creatures for Alice to interact with.

Johnny Depp also continues his marriage to all things Burton as the Mad Hatter. Depp is barely recognizable with his frizzy red hair and extravagant clothing and sometimes barely understandable either when speaking. None of this takes away from his over-the-top performance though, and Disney certainly has profited from them too (Captain Jack Sparrow anyone?).

The question being posed now amongst the older fans of Carroll’s work is “Has Alice become too commercialized?” One quick internet search on Amazon and Google yields nothing related to the books until the second of third pages. Do audiences still care about the books movies are based off anymore? Judging by Alice’s estimated 62 million dollars grossed on its opening week, the answer seems to be a resounding no when it comes productions such as these.

Burton seems to have kept his trademark quirkiness intact within the movie, which should keep fans of his work satisfied. The best way for the movie to be viewed is as it was filmed: in 3-D. The Cheshire Cat slithers across the screen, tea cups are hurled into the audience, and viewers feel as though they are traveling down the hole with Alice.

Newcomer Mia Wasikowska does an admirable job as Alice, even if she forced to do much with her character. In this version, Alice has grown up since her last foray into Wonderland. The characters in the book were written and designed for children; something about a grown up Alice fighting wars with witches seems a tad off.

In the end, Alice may be better served on paper to solve riddles and enjoy wonderland- but those still hoping for an amusing cinematic experience will not be let down. No doubt kids, parents and others will flock to see this movie but when it comes time for bedtime all of them alike should not forget about the novel.