Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland is the latest from kinky director Tim Burton using advanced digital 3D technology to produce a lush hybrid of Lewis Carroll's beloved stories “Alice through the Looking Glass” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. As with many adaptations in the past, characters are exchanged or blurred like the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts while other characters are introduced like the fierce Jabberwocky which is only alluded to in the books famous nonsensical poem. This is a much matured Alice (Mia Wasikowska) who at age 19 falls down a rabbit hole to escape an unwelcome marriage proposal only to revisit a long forgotten world. Here the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) with help from Stayne the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) controls the kingdom via fear of unleashing the vicious Jabberwocky (Christopher Lee). The other creatures like Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) and Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) have eagerly awaited the return of Alice so that she might slay the Jabberwocky with the vorpal sword and restore power to the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). Yet again Burton taps the copious talent of Johnny Depp to play the Mad Hatter who is only mad when channelling Ed Wynn but turns lucid while expressing himself in a Scottish Brogue. There is also a quasi romantic vibe between him and Alice that Lewis Carroll probably never dreamed of. Disney/Pixar do their usual magic with Burtons creative juices to make an exciting spectacle that like most of Burtons work and unlike most Disney productions may be a little too intense for the very young.