johnlink ranks ALICE IN WONDERLAND 3D (2010)
I have to plead some ignorance when it comes to Lewis Carrol’s most famous creation. I saw the Disney film as a young kid, but haven’t caught up with it. About the most exposure I’ve had to the world was from when I played the Alice level in Kingdom Hearts. That said, I knew the story well enough to not be worried about being lost going into this ‘sequel’.
I watched ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010) in theaters in 3D on 3.21.10. It was my first viewing of the film. TRAILER HERE
Though I am relatively unfamiliar with Alice, I am a huge fan of Jabberwocky. I didn’t know, in fact, that this dangerous beast appeared in the novels. In fact, my favorite moments in the film were references to “Frabjous Day” and the “Bandersnatch” and the “Vorpal Sword”. I was hoping to see a Tumtum tree, but alas I did not.
I thought the music was splendid. I thought the creativity involved in creating the characters was inspired. And, mostly, I thought the visuals in this film were very Burtonesque, and wonderful to look at.
But, other than that, my biggest reaction to this film is a shrug. The 3D did nothing for it, in fact it was detrimental at times (I thought it would have been interesting for the real world to be in 2D and Underland to be in 3D, a la the color change in WIZARD OF OZ). The CGI was downright awful in some instances. The acting was middle of the road, though I thought Mia Wasikowska had a fine big picture debut as Alice. But Depp? Helena Bonham Carter? Crispin Glover? None of them had their best performance in this, though none embarrassed themselves either.
There is also an unexplainable modern dance moment set to some sort of techno music (the one piece which keeps this film from getting a bonus point for music) which will forever date this film. It is timeless for 98%, and entirely contemporaneous for thirty seconds.
The writing was bland. Though I liked the incorporation of so many characters, I did feel like the dialogue was weak. There were several moments, especially when Alice first made the journey, that did not feel genuine.
As for the rating? PG? Are you kidding me? The MPAA must have been paid a lot of money to warrant that rating. I’m not sure if it was the eyeball stab, the walking over beheaded faces, or the drug use which cemented it for me (and I don’t think kids should NOT see this because of these things), but this was absolutely a PG-13 film.
But overall? Go see it. It’s a decently entertaining film with some nice light moments tucked inside some serious ones. Mediocre perhaps, but absolutely watchable.
SCORES
FILM: 5; MOVIE: 7; ACTING: 5; WRITING: 4; BONUS: 1
Bonus point here is for the wonderful costumes, which change and adapt throughout. Wonderful Oscar worthy work which adds to the overall look of the film.
5+7+5+4+1=22
FINAL SCORE: 5.5
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