Alice in Wonderland

What happens when you mix Lewis Carrol, Tim Burton, and a healthy shot of Johnny Depp? You get arguably the strangest movie ever made. That's one of the things I loved about this movie. It takes place in England where 19 year-old Alice is in modern times. She's being proposed to by a particularly snooty guy. Right in the middle of his proposal, she sees a rabbit. But not just any rabbit. A rabbit with a pocket watch (we all know what that means). Soon she finds herself falling down a rabbit hole. Then comes the most boring scene in the movie. Ten minutes of Alice trying to get a key and then trying to get small or tall. Finally she gets out and is in Wonderland which is now overruled by the Red Queen. Everyone wants the White Queen to be in power but sadly, she's not (tough luck for you Alice). She later encounters the Mad Hatter, a blue caterpillar smoking from a hookah, and a totally deranged rabbit. Alice finds out she has to slay a horrible creature called the Jabberwocky. But, she doesn't want to. It all leads up to a great battle between the White Queen and her army of chess pieces (which are all white), and the Red Queen with her army of playing cards (which are all hearts). This movie is extremely weird, which makes it amazing. I loved Mia Wasikowska in her role as Alice, but I think the best performance comes from Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. There is one scene at the end where he is talking to Alice about what will happen after the battle - it was beautiful. I didn't really like Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen with her "Off with the head" line every twenty minutes. But, I guess all movies can't be perfect. Visually it was pretty cool. Which is another thing I loved about it. I hope Alice falls in the rabbit hole say three years from now and makes another movie as good as this one.

Studio:Walt Disney Pictures
Director:Tim Burton
Actors: Mia Wasikowska (Alice), Johnny Depp (the Mad Hatter), Helena Bonham Carter (the Red Queen
Release: Wide
DVD Release: TBD
Recap: B+