Many versions of Alice’s adventures have been brought to the screen before. This version by Tim Burton, however, has a pocket piece of imagination especially set apart for him, and he brings his unusual style to the filming of a story loved and known by all.
The film combines Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” with his “Through the looking-glass” and mixes together live action and animation. Although this is not Burton's best film, and the movie is a little disappointing overall, there are clear moments of imaginative brilliance.
Alice Kingsley (Mia Wasikowska, who is an Australian, Canberra-born actress) attends a planned engagement party for her after the death of her beloved father. At the party, she sees a white rabbit talking to itself, wearing a waistcoat and holding onto a pocket watch.
She pursues him through a maze and falls down a hole in the ground, where she enters a Wonderland populated by familiar creatures such as the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the March Hare, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and of course The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).
This is an enjoyable film that pays reasonable reverence to Carroll’s stories. It is well directed and well acted, especially by Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen. The film’s classification warns that some scenes are scary, but Burton has never directed a movie where that was not so. Many scenes are dark and weird and will worry young children.
Parents should accompany their children to the movie so that they can monitor the effects on their children of what they see and think - Peter Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office for Film & Broadcasting.
Walt Disney Studios. Out March 4, 2010. Starring: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Crispin Glover. Directed by Tim Burton.
Rated PG (Fantasy violence and scary scenes). 108 min.
http://www.catholic.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1636:alice-in-wonderland&catid=100:film-reviews-2010&Itemid=376