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What the critics say: Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton’s re-imagining of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland hit UK cinemas last week and we take a look at the reception from the authoritative media.
Times Online’s Kate Muir says "Never have toves been so slithy or a film so brillig. Tim Burton’s spectacular reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, which had its royal premiere in London last night, takes Lewis Carroll’s famous Jabberwocky poem and makes it a 3-D epic for the next generation. Traditionalists may quibble with Burton’s Gothic ride through the Alice books, but his hallucinogenic humour is true to the originals. Plus you don’t get a cast any better than this. The standouts are Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen with a bulbous head and a venomous tongue, using a live pig as a footstool, and Alice herself, played by the Australian actress Mia Wasikowska with frowning confidence and not a drop of soppiness. The characters may be familiar but the plot deviates insanely from the original. Down the rabbit hole, Alice still finds the “Drink Me” potion, varies from 6in to 20ft tall, attends the Mad Hatter’s tea party and confronts the Red Queen, but Burton brings Alice’s dream closer to his more favoured nightmares."
4/5
Den of Geek’s Carley Tauchert says "When I first heard that Burton was attached to this project I did slightly worry for a moment. After all, his last adaptation of a children’s book, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, left me feeling a bit empty afterwards but, thankfully, Alice In Wonderland sees Burton back on on his game. For his Alice is a fun, endearing and magical movie at its best, and one well worth seeking out. It’s not perfect, certainly, but Burton’s trip to Wonderland is a welcome one, indeed."
4/5
OK! Magazine says "Alice In Wonderland looks absolutely incredible, especially in 3D. The CGI sets are everything you would expect from Burton and are dripping in his signature creepy imagery. It’s entirely captivating and watching in 3D helps the adventure come to life. A huge amount of detail has gone into the main characters and their costumes and the CGI is flawless. Helena Bonham Carter is a delight to watch as the evil Red Queen and Mia Wasikowska makes a perfect Alice. So much attention has been spent on the minor details that the storyline feels a little lifeless and rushed. For such an image-heavy film, very little happens and it certainly feels like a lot has been cut from the final edit. The story, which is built up rather well, isn’t wrapped up neatly and the end feels hurried and messy. This is visually stunning and very captivating, but don’t expect it to match up to all the hype."
3.5/5
Critics have in the main been positive but, of course, it is the most negative review of all that generated most interest. Robbie Collin of The News of the World gave the film a 1-star review and summed up with the single world "Chunderland".
Robbie Collin went on to say "It’s not often that you can start a film review quoting the wisdom of Orlando Bloom. But Alice in Wonderland is a strange case. As Elf-features himself once said in his film Elizabethtown: "There’s a difference between a failure and a fiasco. A failure is simply the non-presence of success. Any fool can accomplish failure. "But a fiasco? A fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions." And readers, that’s Alice in Wonderland for you – a bona fide, bums-in-the-air fiasco that needs to be burned and the ashes hurtled off in the direction of the nearest black hole as soon as you can, NASA. In fact it’s Lesbian Vampire Killers bad – the kind of film that you don’t just dislike or even hate, but one that your body physically rejects like a dodgy organ transplant. I know it sounds extreme. After all, this is a much-touted, mega-budget, 3D spectacular from none other than Tim Burton and Disney, starring a host of family favourites. So let me explain. Set 15 or so years after the original Alice adventures, this film stars Mia Wasikowska as a 19-year-old Alice who remembers nothing of her first trip down the rabbit hole. In the middle of an embarrassing marriage proposal, she flees to the woods, tumbles down the hole again and learns it is her destiny to kill the Jabberwocky, dethrone the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and return power to her White sister (Anne Hathaway). In 2008, when Tim Burton chose Mia to play Alice, she had never acted in a big feature film before. And that remains true to this day."
1/5
Have you been to see Alice in Wonderland yet? Whose review do you most agree with? Let us know by posting a comment below.
Posted: March 2nd, 2010
Author: Lee
Categories: Lewis Carroll
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