Alice in Wonderland
In the past 20 years, has there been a filmmaker we’ve wanted to see Lewis Carroll’s “Wonderland” from more than Tim Burton? Most would say no. And while the end result of this film isn’t the one I think most of us would say we wanted to see from him, I have to say, Burton has made one of his most engaging fantasies in years.
He starts by populating his Wonderland with an abundance of acting riches, led by Mia Wasikowska as the 20-year old Alice. What? Hang on. This Alice has been dreaming of Wonderland for 13 years. Now, on the day she is trotted out to a possible engagement (to a snobbish bore), she sees a White Rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen) who appears to take her down the Rabbit Hole once again. But no one in Wonderland is sure she’s the “real Alice,” although she can’t fool the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).
I could continue on with the story, but I want to talk about the sights. Burton’s deepened his storytelling sense with films like “Big Fish” and “Sweeney Todd” over the years, but in films like his reworkings of “Planet of the Apes” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” his visual flair has overshadowed character. There are moments in this “Alice in Wonderland,” with a script by Linda Woolverton (whose past work includes “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast”), where Burton finds a happy medium, but also many where we sense he’s going through the motions (in particular, the final scenes of a Wonderland battle feel more like studio-safe tampering than Burton’s subversive imagination), and it feels less like a Burton film than we’d like. And while the 3-D doesn’t pop as much as it did in “Avatar” (namely because it was shot in 2-D and converted into 3-D), Burton and cinematographer Darius Wolski work visual wonders that match the feeling Burton and his actors bring to the material. Visually, at least, this is the film we hoped for from Burton.
Thematically, it feels a lot like Burton as well. Don’t get me wrong, one hopes for more of the dark wit Burton brought to his earlier triumphs like “Edward Scissorhands” and “Beetlejuice” (especially in Helena Bonham Carter’s giant-headed Red Queen), but in retrospect, the emotional journey of this Alice (whom is played beautifully by Wasikowska) fits right in with earlier Burton characters (like Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, even Jack Skellington) who have struggled to discover their identities in a world they don’t seem to belong in.
Other actors bring vivid life to Burton’s “Wonderland,” starting with Depp’s subdued and delightful Hatter, and continuing with Alan Rickman’s wise and clever Absolem the caterpillar, Stephen Fry’s trippy Cheshire Cat, Anne Hathaway’s lovely White Queen, and especially Crispin Glover’s odd and menacing Knave of Hearts. But there are too many characters, too many story threads, and is too little time. And yet, the film as it is (around 110 minutes) is a bit on the long side at times- a little more focus would’ve helped. Still, Burton finds lovely, quirky poetry in Carroll’s wonderful land, and at its’ best, his film gives us a sense of his love for the world…even if it’s not completely the one we imagined he’d give us.
