The new Alice In Wonderland, directed by the kooky Tim Burton, hit our cinema screens in dazzling 3D recently. After seeing the character artwork I was so looking forward to it, and paid a tenner to go and see it in all its 3d animated glory, only to feel slightly cheated by Disney...
It's set 10 years after Alice's original trip to Wonderland, except now it's called Underland and the Red Queen has wreaked havoc over its inhabitants.
Alice in Wonderland is supposed to be about the weird and the wonderful. It's supposed to feel like you've just stumbled upon a hallucinogenic dream or trip with little sense or meaning, but this film just makes too much sense if you ask me; there's not enough of the weird and the wonderful.
It seems, just as with Avatar, more thought has gone into how it looks and not enough into the substance; directors are having a field day with this new 3D technology and are missing the point of the film itself. As a long-standing Alice in Wonderland fan, I feel like some of that vintage surrealism from the sketches in Lewis Carroll's original novel has been lost. It's just all too polished.
Don't get me wrong it's a perfectly enjoyable film, I don't think I would have any qualms with watching it again. And there's no denying that it looks fantastic and the 3D effect is mesmerising, it just distinctly lacks the same charm as the original illustrations and even the cartoon animation from the 50's.
It seems Alice and her world have been given a makeover to please audiences of the 21st century; including an epic battle with an impressive CGI monster, an unnecessary (and thoroughly ridiculous) dance from the Mad Hatter at the end, and the closing credits accompanied by the wailing of Avril Lavigne...
At least Helena Bonham-Carter kept her head, giving the best performance in the film as the merciless (and hilarious) Red Queen.
"Off with their heads!"
