Sarah J. Blige

Alice in Underland

Tim Burton’s fantastical Alice in Wonderland was released in Canada over two weeks ago, and though I had been waiting for it to hit theatres since sometime last fall, I finally got around to seeing it. This film has been considerably hyped and long-awaited for many, and for me, it didn’t disappoint.  I’ve read a few less than laudatory reviews about this film; some critics have criticized Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Mad Hatter and others have complained that the story is lacking, but I couldn’t disagree with them more.

"Do you know why a raven is like a writing desk?"

Linda Woolverton wrote the screenplay, and it’s no wonder I personally was so pleased with the story, as she is responsible for writing such Disney gems as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, as well as episodes from some of my favorite 80s TV shows, My Little Pony, Popples and Dennis the Menace. With 2010′s Alice in Wonderland, Ms. Woolverton created a more grown-up and evolved version of the 150-year old tale, adding several more layers and themes to the story, which may be why some people thought the plot was somewhat convoluted and discursive. This version of Alice in Wonderland, which should be considered more of a sequel to the original than a remake, was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s poem, Jabberwocky, which is widely considered one of the greatest nonsense poems ever written. Tim Burton seems to be rather fond of the nonsensical, the whimsical and the impossible, so it’s only fitting that this version of the film combines two of Carroll’s greatest works to fully embrace the absurdity of life and explore the nuttier side of imagination.

The story begins with a wee little Alice – the one we all know and love –  telling her father about a recurrent nightmare of a creepy land full of loopy characters that has led the six-year-old to believe she has “gone round the bend”. Her father feels her forehead and assures she has, in fact, gone mad, completely bonkers, but fills her in on a little secret that all the best people are (mad, that is).  Fast forward 13 years later to a Victorian London where poor Alice is to be betrothed to a creepy red-headed twit of a Lord with digestive problems.  She manages to escape his proposal by chasing after a white rabbit in a petticoat, and just like in the original, she falls down a rabbit hole and straight into Wonderland. Alice is met by some of her old acquaintances from what she believes is her recurrent nightmare, but she’s unable to recall any of them or the mystical place she has found herself in. Alice does, in fact, meet all of our favorite characters from the original Wonderland, but they’re all more jaded – and in many instances insane – than the characters in the original story. However, this is no surprise, as it is a Tim Burton film, and this Wonderland (which we later learn is actually, and fittingly, called Underland) is much darker and more warped than it was when Disney took a stab at the beloved Lewis Carroll story the first time around in 1951.

I think she might have a brain tumor

In fact, the central plot and the themes of the Tim Burton/Linda Woolverton version of Wonderland are completely different from the 1951 version, as well as Carroll’s 1865 masterpiece: where Alice is a naive little girl who simply experiences (passively, the way children normally do) the mind-bending events in the original story, she is a stubborn, creative and empowered young women who is tired of living a typical life determined and directed by her family and the overly rigid British society she was born into, and also struggles with the demands of the Underland characters to save them from the Red Queen’s cruel regime; this story is primarily about self-determination and being a captain of your destiny, rather than just going along for the ride on a course that others have set you on. You go, girl.

Of course it was no surprise that Johnny Depp was cast as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, but these two played their characters magnificently and with delightful lunacy. Chrispin Glover was in true creepy form as Stayne, the Red Queen’s largeness-obsessed knave, and Anne Hathaway played the peaceful, cruelty-free White Queen quite well, though I would have made those black caterpillar eyebrows white to match her platinum mane. Tweedledee and Tweedledum were always amusing and played perfectly by Matt Lucas, our beloved Little Britain star. The casting director (probably largely directed by Mr. Burton) did a fabulous job, and made an excellent decision by casting Mia Wasikowska as Alice, the 20-year-old Australian actor who, before Alice, hadn’t played a lead role. She gave the grown-up Alice the strength, determination and dreaminess necessary for this role, and played the part like a seasoned professional.

The charming Tweedles

The special effects were impressive and the graphics were spellbinding, though I found myself forgetting that I was seeing the film in 3D. It is certainly a movie that should be enjoyed on the big screen, but unlike last year’s 3D blockbuster, Avatar, I think it would be just as aesthetically captivating if viewed on a regular screen.

Before you see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, check out this 107-year-old silent film version of the story, the first screen adaptation, for a reminder of how far film has come in the past century. But be warned: in this film, Alice is frighteningly masculine, a baby turns into a piglet, the Cheshire cat is glaring rather than grinning, and the special effects are…well, you’ll see.