Here is my opinion of the new movie but I’m curious to hear other comments and opinions as well.
I am a huge fan of the original Alice in Wonderland movie. I saw the new movie and it was enchanting for some of the same reasons. Of course the graphics were amazing but the graphics in most movies now days are. It seemed to pick up where the old one left off; therefore, it was able to capture the creativity of the original movie while adding on a twist of it’s own. Taking one of America’s most beloved movies of all time and altering it in any way is risky business but I think they pulled it off well.
Director Tim Burton worked magic once again but I was surprised that it wasn’t more dark and twisted like most of his films. For the story to be based around imagination and madness, I definitely thought it could have been just a tad bit more mad. The acting was for the most part well casted. Mia Wasikowska’s real life version of the cartoon Alice was somewhat different than I imagined her, but she played the part well. Johnny Depp was brilliant as usual. Depp has the ability to transform himself in such a way that I am convinced all of his many unique characters are real life people somewhere. The casting directors made a huge blunder by casting Ann Hathaway as the White Queen. She parades around with her arms bent upward with her hands up by her shoulders in almost every single shot she is in. I assume this posture she portrayed was her bizarre interpretation of a benevolent and graceful queen but I found this over acted role to be very monotonous, irritating and a bit comical, which is definitely not good if you aren’t aiming to be funny. Hathaway is a good actress but this roll was not for her.
I liked the way Alice was torn between the pressures of society and the world of fantasy inside her mind. I think the story reaches people on a personal level, though most probably don’t realize or even comprehend all of the beautiful metaphors tied into this story. The whole concept of the story parallels struggles that we have faced or will face at some point time in our lives. It takes on the belief that not everything in life has to make sense, when in fact most things don’t. Being able to let go of inhibitions and be a little mad sometimes is a gift given to each of us if we just have the guts to use it. The story reminds us of how we would love to escape and be free from societies traditions and taboos, how we would love to let our thoughts and ideas, our what if’s and how comes and our deepest visions and dreams be exposed. There is an Alice in us all that longs to be heard. This story conveys the message that we must be brave enough to think freely and speak up. Of course there will be opposition and uproar. There will be challenges, obstacles and dragons to slay, as Alice found to be true. You must face your dragon and slay it in order to find the Alice deep within yourself, the person you were born to be. They may call you mad but all of the best people are.
I just love the story of Alice in Wonderland so much, but I realized everything I liked about the new one was mainly the same stuff I liked in the old one. If given the choice to watch the old movie or the new again, I would probably choose the old. Graphics are neat and stuff in the new movie but that’s not everything to me. I definitely think it could have been better. I hope directors don’t start relying too much on graphics and slack off on the story lines.
I agree with Bloggart, The Mad Hatter was doing some weird voice manipulation and I wrote it off as him just being mad but it did annoy me a bit. I think I was so distracted by Ann Hathaway’s performance to really be bothered by the Mad Hatters strange voice changes.
