Now on DVD: Alice in Wonderful

When I heard that Time Burton was pairing up again with Johnny Depp, I was more than thrilled. I think those two are the dynamic duo of my generation and when you toss in Helen Bonham Carter (as Burton typically does), I just about squeal with delight. With the economy the way it is, I didn't have the $10.50 to go see Alice in Wonderland when it came out but rest assured that I rented it the second it made it to DVD. I had such high hopes and though I read the reviews which were all not that flattering, I still held out for my cinematic Holy Trinity. Unfortunately, it failed to reach my expectations.

I was raised, as many in my generation were, on the Alice in Wonderland Disney cartoon from 1951 (perhaps because all of our parents were raised on the same cartoon when they were young). I've watched the TV show from the 1990s, seen the made for TV movies, and all of the remakes. Though I have never read the book (though I plan to as part of the 1001 Book challenge), I believe myself to be quite familiar with the story and its characters. I was hoping that Burton, in his usual manner, would show a different interpretation of the novel that we have all been saturated with since we could focus our eyes on a TV screen. Sadly, he didn't. Though there were some aspects that were not presented in some of the other adaptations, I felt that the majority of the story was the same and I was bored. I don't think that I need to rehash the story of Alice in Wonderland (girl falls down rabbit hole and finds herself in another world where things are extremely confusing at first and yet perfectly logical upon reflection and simply fantastic as quotes on facebook/myspace profiles) because we are all familiar with the characters and plot points. As usual, Johnny Depp's performance was phenomenal as was Carter's and Anne Hathaway's. The animation and backdrops were exceptional and created a sinister and creepy atmosphere that some of the other adaptations have not. Still, this did not change the fact that the story had been done before...many many tireless times.

On the other hand (though I just spent two paragraphs berating the film), I do believe that people should watch it even if it is on mute. The reason being that the effects are so fantastic that any kind of description would not do it justice. I constantly wanted to freeze frame the movie and print the images on the screen onto posters. Despite the fact that it didn't live up to my expectations, I know that I will find myself picking up a copy once it reaches the discount bins at Blockbuster.

-DLP