In this re-imagining of the classic tale, we see nineteen year old Alice (Mia Wasikowska) that has just been proposed to by a less than charming snob. Out of her nerves, Alice runs away following a rabbit that she sees and eventually falls down it's hole. At the bottom of the hole, Alice arrives in Underland and several creatures including the white rabbit, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and several other animals who are arguing about whether or not they brought back the right Alice. Soon the creatures are captured and Alice runs away and eventually ends up at the Mad Hatter's (Johnny Depp) house. Here, the Mad Hatter informs Alice that the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has taken over Underland and that the only way to defeat her is by slaying the Jabberwocky, a dragon controlled by the Red Queen.
There's just one problem with this...Alice believes that this is all a big dream. Alice has no intentions of slaying the Jabberwocky and wants to go home as soon as possible. However, when friends get captured and problems arise, Alice must put aside her unwillingness and embark on a journey that is as crazy as the Mad Hatter himself.
"Alice in Wonderland" reminded me a lot of "Avatar" in the way that almost everything from the characters to the scenery is CGI. The creative plants, animals, structures, and Underland itself are almost all green screen. In fact, once in Underland, only Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) are real people without the aid of CGI. Everything looks great and well edited on screen and the high quality 3D (this is the way to see the film) definitely makes it look better.
The characters are also very creative. The most enjoyable character is of course the Mad Hatter played brilliantly by Johnny Depp. Depp and Burton considered so many things when imagining this character and those ideas play out beautifully in the movie. An interesting detail about the Mad Hatter is that his clothes, eyes, and even accent change with his moods. For example, when angry the Hatter has dark red eyes and would switch from an English accent to a Scottish one. Not only is the Mad Hatter funny but he can put up a fight as seen in a couple scenes in the film including the climax in which he faces off with the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover). Other interesting characters include the Red Queen who has a crazy desire to cut off other people's/thing's heads, the Cheshire Cat who aids several characters throughout the film from being in danger, and a wise, smoking caterpillar named Absolem (voiced by Alan Rickman) who appears to Alice several times in the film to offer her guidance.
The acting is great and of course how couldn't it be when led by a great actor like Johnny Depp. It feels like each actor works hard to make their own character unique and entertaining. The Mad Hatter has his different accents, the Red Queen has her funny habits and personality, and the White Queen has her out-there persona. So on and so forth, each character was incredibly unique and added to the films wonderful creativity.
Tim Burton has given us a magical film with laughs, action, and a trunk load of creativity that comes together brilliantly to recreate the wacky tale of "Alice in Wonderland". It has interesting characters, an entertaining fight sequence, and even an insane dance by the Mad Hatter near the end. "Alice in Wonderland" has enough magic to make anyone want to follow that rabbit down the rabbit hole. I give it three and half stars out of four.
"Alice in Wonderland" has a running time of 1 hour and 58 minutes and is rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situation, and for a smoking caterpillar.
