Alice in Wonderland 3-D (2010) Movie Review, Trailer and Poster

USA 2010
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Stephen Fry, Anne Hathaway
Rating: PG
Release Date: 5 March 2010
Running Time: 1 hour 48 minutes

The Movie Review

Alice in Wonderland.... A title, a name and a legend. Exist for more than a century now, it has been accompanying kids everywhere. I think my grandfather also read the books as a teenager. Yes Alice in Wonderland 3-D being released in 2010 is absolutely not the first Alice movie. Do you know the number? It is the 20-something Alice's movie, even arguably more than 25th! And who could've better direct and headline this movie than the magnificently whimsical trio of Johnny Depp, his best friend Tim Burton and Tim's wife, Helena Bonham Carter. And to make this version of Alice become even more special, well as you can see from the advertising everywhere, it's in 3-D! Now how fancy is that? So let's just take a good look and see if it's worth the money and time...


ALICE In WONDERLAND 3-D
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Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is not a sequel or a remake. Alice Kingsley is not a little girl anymore. Alice (Mia Wasikowska from Rogue (2007)) runs away from her engagement party to follow a panic white rabbit carrying a clock. Alice falls into the rabbit hole (the 3-D is very cool here) and eventually lands on a weird room. When she gets out of the room, the flabbergasted Alice is accused for being Alice and for not being Alice. The residents of Underland including the chubby twin Twiddledee and Twiddledum (Matt Lucas), Uilleam the Dodo, Mallymkun the doormouse and Absolem the wise caterpillar (Alan Rickman) claim that the real Alice will free the residents of Underland from the tyrant hand of Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and her army by slaying the Jabberwocky. But an incident forces Alice to wander further into the depth of Underland and meet more strange dwellers including the oddball eccentric-looking Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). What will happen to Alice? Is she the real Alice?

Alice in Wonderland is based on novels written by Lewis Carroll in 1865. The novels were titled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Lewis Carroll was the fake name used by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Alice is popular as a fantasy literature in the Nonsense genre. Nonsense literature genre is an awesome collection of literature which you could really distract your real world stress and hectic situation with something amusing that it would tease your kid-side. I personally prefer Edward Lear better from this genre with his Nonsense Songs, Nonsense Rhymes and Nonsense Alphabets. And if you're interested you could browse the Wordsworth Classics catalogue. Anyhow, although belong to the nonsense genre, doesn't mean they're brainless. No dude, they were freakin creative people. And when a movie was produced with a crazy high budget of US $200,000,000, this movie is not a joke. And I wonder if Lewis Carroll had thought that 145 years from the day he released the book, there would be a movie made in magnificent 3-D? Oh how the future holds its secrets.

With all those remarkable facts, Alice in Wonderland 3-D has to be special and it has to be stunning. But unfortunately it's also had to be made in 3-D, otherwise this fantasy film is just a so-so movie. Yup, 3 Dimension, that's probably the best reason to buy the tickets and bring along your kids or simply bring along the kiddie-side inside you. I've seen several Alice movies including the first one ever in 1903 and the Walt Disney version in 1951, but the books are somehow still better. Although in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Alice now has a purpose to venture in Underland and not just wandering around. However, honestly speaking, this movie can not be said as stunning... I personally so bumped out with the fact that the movie was from the trio whose works including: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Beetlejuice (1988), Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Edward Scissorhands (1990). We got big names here, including Crispin Glover and the good 'ol Stephen Fry, my expectation was high, but it seems the script limit their acting capability to almost mediocre.

There aren't many moments that could make you laugh, probably just a chuckle or two, and I was actually bored. And remember guys, normally 3-D movies don't have any subtitles, so if you're not very good in English make sure at least the action and the adventure scenes are interesting enough without understanding the dialogue. The scenery and bizarre creatures in Alice in Wonderland are certainly interesting but not that interesting that would make you spellbound, the tone is even darker with burnt village and decapitated heads flowing in the river. And the final battle scene is oh so generic. 3-D speaking, Avatar 3-D (2009) is better.

All things considered, I still would see this movie, even though it's not that awesome, because I want to experience the Alice's world with all those bizarre/wacky/funny creatures in 3-D. But if the admission tickets in your country are expensive (it's 3-D guys), I suggest you wait for the DVD and watch the movie in Large Screen.

>The first lines of Alice's!: Alice in Wonderland (1903), Alice in Wonderland (1915) and Alice in Wonderland (1933)
>Oh the Fantastic fantasy: Big Fish (2003) and of course The Wizard of Oz (1939).

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
posted: Mar 13th 2010 09:20 am