April 26, 2010
I really enjoyed this film and whilst I can see how a die hard Alice snob would baulk at the dramatic departure from the text, that departure is so Burtonesquely brilliant and filled with its own wonder that I think it matters not a jot. He never said he was making a word for word dramatisation of the book, he said he was making a film called Alice in Wonderland. That's a Film, not a book. And it states 'based on', not even 'adaptation'.
It was weird and clever and full of cool characters and crazy images and fantastical landscapes - but also, I actually liked the bleakness of bits of it (which has been criticised). Like a dream, not everything is in glorious Technicolor and not all the detail is defined. In fact, in my most vivid fever induced hallucinations, I distinctly remember that the world was black and white, flat and fuzzy around the edges, and seemed cold and had a metallic quality to it - but the purple sprites that leapt around me were crystal clear and horribly three dimensional. I think Tim has it spot on!
Character wise -well I read a lot of blah that said there was no warmth or depth to the characters and that it was difficult to engage with any of them or care about the outcomes, which again is pants. I had a lump in my throat as Alice fights to save the Hatter, and a tear was near shed when he tells her that she won't remember him when she goes back to her own world.
Ah, the Hatter. Ah, Johnny Depp. He, who manages, whilst at moments being utterly expressive and even grotesque, to remain strangely endearing and enigmatic by turns. Not even the bug eyes, yellowed teeth, ghostly pallor and frazzled ginga noggin diminish his undeniable beauty.
Anne Hathaway plays overly affected grace and whimsy to perfection. The model/actress playing Alice gets to wear some very cool frocks, which she does with panache and style, and then some super hot armour in the closing battle scenes. She's Joan of Arc all over and she does feisty pretty damn well.
I thought it was a good romp; exciting, moving, funny, witty, fantastical and foolish. Clever stuff.
It was weird and clever and full of cool characters and crazy images and fantastical landscapes - but also, I actually liked the bleakness of bits of it (which has been criticised). Like a dream, not everything is in glorious Technicolor and not all the detail is defined. In fact, in my most vivid fever induced hallucinations, I distinctly remember that the world was black and white, flat and fuzzy around the edges, and seemed cold and had a metallic quality to it - but the purple sprites that leapt around me were crystal clear and horribly three dimensional. I think Tim has it spot on!
Character wise -well I read a lot of blah that said there was no warmth or depth to the characters and that it was difficult to engage with any of them or care about the outcomes, which again is pants. I had a lump in my throat as Alice fights to save the Hatter, and a tear was near shed when he tells her that she won't remember him when she goes back to her own world.
Ah, the Hatter. Ah, Johnny Depp. He, who manages, whilst at moments being utterly expressive and even grotesque, to remain strangely endearing and enigmatic by turns. Not even the bug eyes, yellowed teeth, ghostly pallor and frazzled ginga noggin diminish his undeniable beauty.
Anne Hathaway plays overly affected grace and whimsy to perfection. The model/actress playing Alice gets to wear some very cool frocks, which she does with panache and style, and then some super hot armour in the closing battle scenes. She's Joan of Arc all over and she does feisty pretty damn well.
I thought it was a good romp; exciting, moving, funny, witty, fantastical and foolish. Clever stuff.