I think its safe to say Alice In Wonderland had a pretty good weekend. Considering its shattering box office records left and right, you’ve probably seen Alice In Wonderland at this point, so why not join me for some spoiler talk!
Director and subject matter make for a perfect marriage in Tim Burton‘s version of the Lewis Carroll classic. Alice In Wonderland stars frequent Burton collaborator Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Defiance‘s Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen, and Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts.
I thought Burton’s style fit in nicely with the world of Wonderland and I really enjoyed the performances by Wasikowska and Bonham-Carter. Sadly, I am starting to grow a bit tired of the Burton/Depp/Bonham-Carter collaboration. All their recent films feel very similar and I haven’t really seen a lot of growth from the trio. Do you think its about time Burton found new best friends?
If you have seen Alice In Wonderland, then, it’s time for SPOILER TALK! Below are some of my spoiler-filled thoughts on the film, and as always, remember to leave your thoughts about the movie here below in the Comments section.
SPOILERS
– The 3D gave me a headache at times, especially during scenes that had fast movements and a lot of motion in them. Was it like that in Avatar?
– This movie was originally shot for 2D and up-converted to 3D later, which I think is the wrong way to go. Avatar really set the standard for filming movies in 3D with 3D cameras!
– When did Alice find the time to become a sword-wielding warrior?
– Along those same lines, did we really need the Lord Of The Rings climax?
– The ending sets up further adventures for Alice outside of Wonderland, would you like to see those further adventures or are you happy knowing she’s having said adventures but never seeing them?
Now its your turn: What did you think of Alice In Wonderland? Did you see it in 2D, 3D or IMAX?
I’m really upset with what Alice said to the crazy old woman at the end of the movie. The movie is all about… “Yes, you’re mad, but all the greatest people are.” And then Alice tells the lady she’s delusional and needs to see someone? I don’t feel like this is really something Alice would say at this point in her life. The entire ending felt rushed and poorly thought out to me.
Comment by Loralee — March 8, 2010 @ 11:38 am
This was more a sequel to the Disney Alice in Wonderland, than a continuation from the books. I don’t like the mixing of the stories at all. Dee and Dum were from “Through the Looking Glass”, not “Alice in Wonderland”, as were the White Queen, the Jabberwocky (and it’s other referenced, the Bandersnatch and the Jubjub Bird). The queen of hearts and the red queen aren’t the same person since TTLG doesn’t take place in Wonderland, it takes place.. well.. in the reverse world of the looking glass.
I think Carrol would have liked the imagery, but the blending of worlds would have upset him. He purposefully wrote the stories to be different. In fact, nothing connects the two worlds aside from Alice. AIW uses differences in size to move the plot pieces, alone with the deck of cards theme and the mockery of aristocratic life. TTLG uses bizarre changes in setting to move the plot, along with using chess as the backdrop.
To address the point about Alice, keep in mind that the vorpal sword is the opposite of the standard sword (it comes from TTLG). Whereas, we would say it’s not the weapon, it’s who wields it, with the vorpal sword, it’s not who wields it, but the weapon itself. The sword did the moving, Alice only held it.
Comment by Phineas Delgado — March 8, 2010 @ 1:04 pm
I would definately love to see more of Alice’s adventures. I thought the movie was kind of cut short. All through the end i kept thinking the Mad Hatter will appear in real life. Most characters in underworld were also in the real world so i was left questioning if she would return to underworld. Though the movie was amazing. I thought Tim Burton’s style really suited Alice in Wonderland. She is grown up now and as a grown up you see things more clearly not happy and weird as it was before in the comic version. I cannot wait for the Dvd to be released.
Comment by Susan Callaghan — March 8, 2010 @ 4:33 pm
I saw Alice in 3D and enjoyed it, although there were somethings that detracted from it. Firstly the good things I adored the visual and costume porn. Visually I did find myself in a wonderland. I also loved the portrayal of Alice by Wasikowska. While overall I liked the idea of the new spin on the Alice story, there were a few problems with it, which of course lead to the bad things.
The mixing of the stories was somewhat frustrating – especially in the combining of the Red Queen and Queen of Hearts. I would have like to see the chess and card motifs explored more and not so randomly combined.
Additionally while I usually adore the work of Depp I found his portrayal of the Hatter to be little more than a reprise of Jack Sparrow (just a touch more madness and a little more sugar).
Comment by Ronnie — March 8, 2010 @ 5:50 pm
I did not hate or like it wasn’t memerable I forgot what happened in the movie when I got out of the theatre. It was more of telling a story than a movie. Though I did like the relationship between Hatter and Alice it was like siblings caring for each other. I did like the charcters. I wanted to see more of The White Qeen though. 3D wasn’t particulary special either. I really liked the casting though, love them all. There was too much talk of frabjous day, the whole movie was about it. The movie felt like it was cut short. I’m still not sure what to make of it but I guess it was good.
Comment by CHAO — March 9, 2010 @ 4:40 pm
I thought the movie was just ok. I kept waiting for something to happen…it felt like I’d already been there seen that kind of story.
I don’t understand why a lot of fantasy movies nowadays need to have a big LOTR battle at the end. They can’t top it. Alice fighting? That was a bit much.
I’ve never been a fan of the original story, which is weird for me because I love fantasies. I went to see the movie because of Tim and Johnny.
Actor and Director together again. They’re good together and they should make more in the future. All their other movies were wonderful.
Visually, Alice was stunning, just wasn’t satisfying.
Comment by Seelia — March 18, 2010 @ 3:13 am
i agree on most of the points listed above .. the movie was ok .. i loved the imagination and the blended stories ( unlike posts above ) but what really bothered me is the ending .. once she drank the blood things got wrapped up too fast .. i was expecting her to run into johnny-mad hatter .. in real life then maybe end there hinting of a sequel but the way it ended was really disappointing ..
i loved the movie up until she left wonderland .. i know the kids will really enjoy it too because of all the fantasy and funny stuff :)
Comment by holly — March 19, 2010 @ 11:15 pm
Loralee
In my opinion telling the old lady that’s she’s delusional makes
sense, since she became sad from her dreams they only made her feel lonely.
didn’t read or hear the original but this one was weird and the story itself was kinda empty except for a few parts that actually seemed to mean something.
Comment by someone — April 8, 2010 @ 12:28 pm
I did not see in in 3D, and prefer to see movies in 2D. (When your partner is legally blind in one eye, the 3D does not work, so why pay all that extra money when one of you can’t enjoy it.)
I went and saw it a second time and enjoyed it a bit more. I loved the nods to the books (“Twinkle, Twinkle little bat…”)
For what it’s worth, I enjoyed it. I would have liked it to be a bit longer, and I would love to see more movies. It was a fun movie. And that’s what I was expecting.
Comment by Kate Bell — May 4, 2010 @ 11:05 am