In a firm indicator that the adage, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks," is in fact a universal truth, Tim Burton sets out to once again make the wholesome mildly creepier in his sequel to Lewis Carrol's classic tale of Alice's rather curious adventures.
Woo.
I, eh... I just don't know what to make of this one.
Alright, let's go.
Alice in Wonderland tells the story of the titular Alice's 2nd journey to the eponymous Wonderland and borrows elements from both the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as well as it's literary sequel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.
The basic plot of the film deals with Alice running away from her own engagement party upon finding that it was her engagement party and falling once again into the rabbit hole. Upon being found by the denizens of Underland (evidently "Wonderland" was a mispronunciation by young Alice (wat)) she is told that she may be the Alice, the one who visited Underland previously and is prophesied (here we go) to save Underland from the tyranny of the Red Queen by recovering the Vorpal Sword and defeating the Jabberwocky on what will be known as the Frabjous Day.
Anyway, Alice sets off reluctantly (and at various sizes) to find the vorpal sword, still not entirely convinced that she's not dreaming, meeting up with various Underland residents (many of whom have been arbitrarily given names, the Caterpillar, for example, is Abselom, now) along the way rediscovering her memories of her past experiences and finding that she has the strength to save the day
.
So, yeah, it goes without saying, Burton has taken a few liberties with the Lewis Carrol novels, but that's okay, right? The books were far from epic and consisted of little more than Alice wondering from bizarre situation to bizarre situation and muttering, "how curious". On top of that, making Alice's story
grimdark is far from a new concept, so really this isn't a
huge problem in and of it self. Plenty of media empires were reinvigorated by taking something
silly and
campy and making it
fuckawesome.
Alas, this is where Wonderland finds it's largest problem. Simply put: this is a film that doesn't know what it wants to be. Despite how appropriate it may be for the film to have multiple personalities, it doesn't really make the viewing experience more pleasurable. The climatic final battle scene, for example cuts back and forth between Alice's tremendous struggle against the Jabberwocky and the rest of the Underland residents own struggle against the Queen's card soldiers which feels like a battle out of Shrek.
And then there's this.
Keep in mind that immediate preceding this scene Alice had (with no prior sword training) single-handedly beheaded what was, for all intents and purposes a fire-breathing dragon, saved Underland from the Red Queen's evil and had a heart to heart with the Yoda-esque caterpillar about her past. It was quite intense... Or at least, it wanted to be.
On top of the issues with tone whiplash, the film suffers from poor pacing and a lack of characterization. Notably, the Caterpillar, who Alice seems to think of as a mentor-figure in her quest only actually appears once and has two very brief conversations with her. Despite this, she panics before the final confrontation and calls out to him for help. Character motivation is confusing and unclear. The Hatter is taken by the Red Queen's cards, and Alice feels it necessary to save him, but why? At this point, she is still quite convinced she is dreaming and that her actions in Underland have no real consequences. Still, she sets out (about an inch tall at this point for reasons I can't be bothered to remember) to save this person who she'd only just met, and who didn't do much for her outside if insult her.
Despite these complaints, the film has some truly impressive moments. Some of the set pieces like the giant chessboard in the final battle and the Red Queen's castle look great. As well as the costume design and stuff. It's just a shame, because if the movie had just been a bit more focused (on either the comedy or the clash of forces) it might've have been quite impressive, as it stands, all it did was drive me mad.
VAGUE NUMERICAL SCORE FOR LAZY READERS: 2/5
