Alice In Wonderland

This review must come with a warning. I am a huge Tim Burton fan. He is my all time favourite director. His weird sense of humour is much like mine and his strange visuals really appeal to me.

It sadly took me a little while to see this film because I wanted my first experience to be on an Imax screen and I had to wait almost a week to see it. As a result I've had many friends give me their opinion of the film and they generally have not been good. There has been so much hype about the film that it did not live up to their expectations. After watching the film I can understand where they are coming from. The most disappointing thing about the film is the plot. You could almost say that it has no real plot. It is kind of a weak excuse to bring back the characters in a loose sequel. Was this because Tim did not want to do a literal adaptation of the book or there was a problem with the rights? Despite that there is a lot to enjoy. Tim's films are always visually stunning and seeing them on the huge Imax screen makes them look even more spectacular. The 3D also adds that little bit extra awesomeness. Each of the characters are involved in some sort of weird distortion that makes them look strange. The effects used to achieve this are excellent.

This is the break through role for Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska. The film she is in is huge profile but I'm not sure the role is all that spectacular. She is a little like the straight man in a comedy duo. She is only reacting to all the weird stuff going on around her and no real acting is involved. I'd love to see her do something more meatier before judging her properly. Of the great ensemble cast I loved Matt Lucas. Anne Hathaway has this strange ethereal thing going on which makes her quite funny. Helena Bonham Carter is quite funny as well in a typically evil role. She plays crazy so good. Of the voice cast I loved Stephen Fry the most. He is doing this strange (I know I use that word a lot) accent thing that I found wonderful. As for Johnny Depp: he is great as the Mad Hatter. We slips into a Scottish personality sometimes which I found really funny. I think I prefer him when he is doing a character like this than a more normal person.

As big a fan as I am I will admit that this is not the best Tim Burton. All his visual style is there but it just lacks a decent story to hang it on. I'm not sure if that is his fault or the script writer.