Monday 12 April 2010

Curiouser and Curiouser

On Saturday night Steve and I went to see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland in 3D. This post doesn’t contain much in the way of spoilers but if in doubt beware. I’ll try to add a heads up to parts that might contain anything remotely spoiley.


I did enjoy it; although I wanted it to be one of the best films ever and it wasn’t. Overall, I enjoyed it and it was an evening well spent, but it’s not one I’d insist you must see in the cinema; you can just as well wait for it to come on your satellite TV’s movie channel.


Performances

  • The Mad Hatter
    Needless to say, Johnny Depp was pretty damn awesome. However I don’t know what the hell he was on about half the time; maybe I should read some other commentaries before making a fool of myself but I would need to watch it again to see if he’s supposed to have a second (Scottish) personality that comes out when he’s stressed and he’s the one saying all that very weird very monologey stuff.
    His dance was just a little too un-Lewis Carroll-like for my liking, too, although as a special effect it was pretty seemless and cool.
  • The Red Queen
    A fun character to portray, I’m sure, but too one-dimensional to be able to do much with.
  • The White Queen
    When she talks to the dog for the first time she seems to change demeanor and I thought “ah she was just acting in that annoying way for her court’s benefit” but she never drops that very annoying wavey-wristey thing again that I noticed, and it got on my nerves terribly after a while.
  • Alice
    While in ... above-land? ... Alice annoyed me. I didn’t like nor particularly believe the character. When she is in Underland she’s a lot better and I liked the portrayal but one thing that continually bothered me was her lack of manners. She shunted everyone around, eg. Baneyard (or whatever, the dog) and never said please or thank you.
  • The Cheshire Cat
    He was just pretty damn cool, that’s all.
  • The Vorbal Sword
    MILD SPOILER ALERT
    Considering the way the Jabberwocky talks to it directly I would have preferred if there was some sort of inkling of personality or self-awareness or something, for it not to remain a completely inanimate object.
  • Tweedledum and Tweedledee
    Pretty cool, enjoyed them.

Cool stuff
  • 3D
    The 3D was as cool as you’d expect 3D to be, no more, no less, but it did add to the whole emmersive experience. Especially when a story is about someone going into a totally new and very strange reality, it really enhances the effect.
  • The use of hearts
    Maybe this is more praise for Lewis Carroll than Tim Burton but I was struck by how hearts usually symbolise love and warmth. In the Red Queen’s castle etc though they were used so widely and yet were totally cold. Her lips, something usually warm and symbolic of sensuality, had a heart painted on them and instead of making them more warm and passionate, it made them thin and pinched and horrible. Her hair was red and wavey and heart-shaped but again although that description should conjour up a more pleasant mental image, it just made her look grotesque. The arches, the throne, the card soldiers; they all used hearts as their design inspiration but just made the whole place look more cold and daunting. I thought that was very well done.
  • The story line
    MILD SPOILER ALERT
    It’s been a long while since I’ve read either Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass but I don’t recall being disturbed by the deviations in the story(s). It was well explained as an older Alice deciding to follow her own path and not stick to what she’s “supposed’ to do, and in keeping with her character. A bit like the Star Trek trick, creating an alternative time-line that nods to the original story but isn’t limited by it.
  • The Cheshire Cat
    Did I mention that he was cool yet? The bit with the hat, especially.

1 comment:

Moonica said...

Thanks to my friend Mel for pointing out my little author-mixup, fixed now.

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