Alice in Wonderland | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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Directed by | Tim Burton |
Produced by | Richard D. Zanuck Joe Roth Suzanne Todd Jennifer Todd |
Written by | Screenplay: Linda Woolverton Novels: Lewis Carroll |
Starring | Mia Wasikowska Johnny Depp Anne Hathaway Helena Bonham Carter Crispin Glover Stephen Fry Alan Rickman Michael Sheen Christopher Lee Timothy Spall Michael Gough Barbara Windsor Paul Whitehouse |
Music by | Danny Elfman |
Cinematography | Dariusz Wolski |
Editing by | Chris Lebenzon |
Studio | Roth Films The Zanuck Company Team Todd |
Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
Release date(s) | March 5, 2010 (2010-03-05) |
PLOT:
In the sequel to Lewis Carroll’s original stories; Alice Kingsley, now 19, attends a party at a Victorian estate shortly after the death of her beloved father. The party, unbeknownst to Alice, is an engagement party planned by her mother and sister. Just as the arrogant and dull lord Hamish Ascot proposes to Alice under a gazebo and under the eyes of hundreds of snooty society-types, Alice spots a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch. In shock and confusion, she runs off into a maze and follows the White Rabbit through it, only to later tumble down a rabbit hole into Underland (more commonly referred to as “Wonderland” by its inhabitants), a place she visited ten years before, yet doesn’t remember. In Wonderland, she reunites with her childhood friends, including the Mad Hatter, who explains to Alice that they need her help in over-throwing the Red Queen; who has taken control of Wonderland from her sister, the White Queen. Alice is also told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock, the dragon who terrorizes the inhabitants of Wonderland under the rule of the Red Queen. Alice then embarks — assuming both large and small sizes — on an adventure of self discovery and to save Wonderland and her Wonderland friends from both the Jabberwock and the Red Queen’s reign of terror.
MY REVIEW:
The movie kind of incorporates 3 of Lewis Carroll’s most famous works:
the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, Tweedledee and Tweedledum are from the classic Alice in Wonderland, while the White Queen comes from the sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass. Of course, the Vorpal Sword and The Jabberwock are from the nonsense poem Jabberwocky.
It was clear that Burton wanted to get more of an action-adventure thing going, and less of the kids’ tale that Lewis Carroll intended. Linda Woolverton (Mulan, The Lion King) has written the screenplay, which I might have taken as an warning sign: Burton generally does better when he’s directing his own scripts.
I liked the relationship potrayed between “MadHatter” and “Alice”, a brother-sister relation. That was a nice concept.
The Wonderland that Burton imagines rekindles our cherished recollections of Alice’s adventures while landscaping it in the rich, patented Goth look the filmmaker treasures. The dark tone makes the film’s target audience more along the lines of the “Twilight” and college-age set than the SpongeBob sort as it’s likely to freak out little ones.
Loved Johnny Depp (maybe Iam a little biased here 🙂 ) other than that the world of Wonderland that Burton invents, along with the performances other than Anne Hathaway’s — a dud as the White Queen.
I honestly cannot say, It’s a movie worth spending money, but if your kids are bugging you too much to go, go ahead, you have spent money on worst movies than this…
This movie review is part of “The Alice in Wonderland Challenge” hosted by Jenny from “Take Me Away”.
Watch and review Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (due for release in 2010).
And it’s a wrap-up for this Challenge.. To read about the earlier Tasks & reviews for this challenge visit here:http://sumanam.wordpress.com/category/the-alice-in-wonderland-challenge/