Burton fails with ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Down the rabbit hole we go with Tim Burton’s adaptation of Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland.

Everyone had such high expectations, as Tim Burton is always a crowd pleaser. With movies such as Nightmare Before Christmas, Big Fish, Beetle Juice and Sleepy Hollow, what could possibly go wrong?

Alice in Wonderland was even in 3-D and had an all-star cast that included the likes of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Anne Hathaway as the “White Queen” and Helena Bonham Carter as the “Red Queen.” But for a lot of people, the film was just a poor remake of a childhood classic.

The movie follows the book a lot more than it follows the original Disney film, but Lewis Carol’s book was just Alice’s random encounters with different characters varying in insanity. And if that had been the case with the movie, it would have been a lot better.

Instead, the film follows Alice around “Underland,” where she is summoned on a quest to fight the Red Queen on behalf of the White Queen. This sets up a classic light-versus-dark, good-versus-evil plot. With a dramatic fight scene included at the end, the film’s formula is predictable.

The movie was simply dull, and aside from the Mad Hatter’s insanity and the Red Queen’s constant urge to chop off people’s heads, it was altogether lacking. I was bored throughout the movie, and I walked out disappointed.

Alice in Wonderland did make up for itself with its elaborate set and vividly imaginative costume designs. The film looked very Tim Burton-esque, which is why audiences were so excited. Alice in Wonderland is already quite dark. With elements such as a hookah-smoking caterpillar, a food that makes people grow and drinks that make people shrink, it just screamed Tim Burton.

Unfortunately, it also left many audiences wanting more.

Alice in Wonderland was just not all it was cracked up to be.

The Red Queen put it best: “Off with its head!”

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