iHeartDestroy tumbles down the rabbit hole….

We’ve long anticipated the release of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland! I’m a huge fan of the classic Disney film and of all the fantastic alternative art its inspired. I opted for the early Sunday showing, thinking it’d be less crowded.. coincidentally, ninety other people had the very same idea. /Fail >.<

The ticket line was looong, luckily Stub3n and I snagged our tickets online the night before. The usher tore our tickets, pointed to theater 11 and handed us two used pairs of shitty 3D glasses covered in finger prints. Yay. We find two empty seats in the top row and park ourselves in the middle for an optimal 3D experience lol. Just as soon as I start digging through my bag for my Nintendo DS, the lights dim and the coming attractions start to play. Woooo… Glasses ON!

Synopsis: The movie starts out with Alice Kingsleigh riding along with her mother to what she thinks is an ordinary garden party. When Alice discovers the festivities have been staged for Hamish to propose marriage, a confused and curious Alice flees, following a white rabbit down a hole. Having slipped into a portal to “underland”, Alice is greeted by old friends like the Mad Hatter, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Cheshire Cat, Dormouse, Caterpillar and the March Hare. With war being waged between good and evil, Alice must help save underland from the queen of hearts control and restore power back to the white queen!

On to the review

Acting – 95% of Alice was filmed against a green screen, making the roles quit a challenge for the real life actors! With that being said… I felt each character, especially Mia Wasikowska did a remarkable job in embodying the heart and silliness that is wonderland.

Main Characters -

Alice: When we first meet Alice, she’s being led by her mother, ranting about how to be proper and what she should do with her life. During the first thirty minutes of the movie you get a sense that Alice feels trapped, yet is so curious for what other possibilities lye ahead. Mia Wasikowska is a fantastic actress, effortlessly playing to Alice’s naive and strong points back and fourth through the film. Being relatively green in the acting department, Mia proves herself among the A-list cast.

Mad Hatter: I had such high hopes for Johnny Depp playing the Mad hatter, so many of the off the wall characters hes played have been impeccable. Being a fan of Depp’s work made it hard to dislike the hatter, looks aside I just couldn’t get past his adaptation. One of the biggest issues I had with the Mad Hatter was the voice acting, the sometimes Scottish accent he conjured up just didn’t work. However Johnny nailed the hatters unstable, but lovable side! I wasn’t expecting him to put so much emotion into the Hatter, I was pleasantly surprised at how multi-dimensional the character was. The charisma between Depp and Wasikowska (Alice) was brilliant, from the moment they met on screen you get the feeling that he deeply cared for her much like a brother and sister. Though I expected more, it’s hard not to love Depp’s crazy green eyed loony!

The White Queen: Though Anne Hathaway looked the part playing a gorgeous White Queen, the performance was semi-bland. I would have expected the costuming and makeup transformation to help her plunge deeper into character, but sadly there was no real presence or enthusiasm on screen. One thing I did love was Anne’s voice acting, it was spot on! her take on the white queens docile nature was perfect and it really came through in her lines.  All in all Hathaways performance wasn’t horrible, but  I would have expected better from such a versatile actress… When you plan to act along-side giants like Depp and Bonham-Carter, you better bring your A game.

The Red Queen: Helena makes an incredibly believable Red Queen! Throughout the film, the audience can see that the moody villain sometimes second guesses her own nasty behavior. taking in Helena’s cgi inflated head,  it was easy to see the actress prepared for the part, capturing every bit of the queens stubborn, selfish, menacing and egotistic characteristics. Bonham-Carter is a staple in many Burton films, watching his 2010 Alice in Wonderland… It’s easy to see why he favors Helena, aside from being his RL partner in crime, her ability to delve into darker characters is a true asset to any film. I can think of no other actress better fitting to the Queen of Hearts role.

Costuming -

Loved: The costuming was phenomenal from start to finish! I thought all of the characters costumes were brought to life perfectly. Alice’s many costume changes were amazing… changing blue dresses as she grew or shrank in size constantly gave the audience something new to look at. My favorite costume piece would have to be Alice’ Red dress from the red queens court, it’s avant garde feel was fantastic. Other noteworthy costumes come from the white queen, Hathaways billowy white, tulle gown worn throughout the movie made her otherwise emotionless performance more believable. Of the entire cast, the Mad Hatters multi-patterned frock was the most creative and truly made the character jump off the screen. 

Hated: I can’t say I hated any of the costuming.. my only qualm came from the Knave of Hearts.  The character called for a lankier, stretched appearance, so a cgi body was added in post production… Sir jack was important to the story, so I was shocked his wardrobe didn’t reflect that… the cgi created armor was dull and lifeless.

Makeup – The obvious makeup disappointment is The Mad Hatter… While Burton tried to pull of a series of color changing looks according to the characters mood, it just didn’t work on any level! Depp is known for carrying off unique characters effortlessly, but somehow his Hatter persona comes off as a miss… I can’t help but to blame the makeup department!! The  jolly, Scottish, clown trifecta coupled with deep seeded emotional damage made for all around confusing character. I was pleased with Anne Hathaways makeup, it’s simple yet affective, less is definitely more in the White Queens case. The Queen of Hearts makeup was done well, the blue shadow and high painted brows gave Bonham a sincerely wicked look. Helena’s come a long way from Disney’s 1951 Red Queen!

I would have loved the imagery to keep pace with Burton’s previous works, depicting wonderland as a darker place with more adult humor. Something about a dark and twisted wonderland is just so appealing! If you’re expecting 1951’s wonderland meets Edward Scissorhands meets Sleepy Hollow in 3D.. you may be disappointed. Fan girl rants aside… Tim manages to capture the over all feeling of the original animated film, delivering unforgettable characters and astounding scenery for the 3D craving masses!

2010’s Alice in Wonderland is a feast for the eyes, it’s a stunning display of Tim Burtons genius mixed with remarkable 3D technology! The Alice cast, despite working against a green screen, managed to bring Lewis Carrolls classic characters to life in a most magnificent way. I give Tim Burtons 2010 “Underland” flick 4.5/5 stars!!  A MUST see!