My Movie Review on Alice in Wonderland (2010) · 7:38pm May 30th, 2020

Greetings, my friends.

This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, following my previous analysis, I’m gonna be giving you guys my take of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”.

Here’s the summary of this tale:

Nineteen year old Alice Kingsleigh is a girl who desires to be more than what the European society she lives in expects her to be. Every night, she has also been having dreams of herself in a place called Underland, where she meets a diverse amount of inhabitants.

On the day of a big celebration, though, she stumbles into a hole and lands in a world that is exactly like the one in her dreams and meets the inhabitants of it. But, she likewise finds herself to be the subject of a prophecy to overthrow the tyrannical Red Queen and defeat the ravenous Jabberwocky.

What does all of this mean for Alice? Could everything be real or part of another dream? And will she come to terms with her destiny and fulfill it?

I’d like to be honest, the first time I saw this movie was an awfully long time ago. I was primarily neutral towards the film, and I think it was because I didn’t know what to make of it and had trouble taking things in.

When I decided to see this movie again in preparation for reviewing it, I thought that I was going to have the same feelings as before. Once I did, though...I was surprised to find myself enjoying it more than the first time. I think it was because I was really young the last time and the film carried greater appeal for teens and adults than children.

The one nitpick that I was able to pinpoint was that the computer-generated effects weren’t what I’d call the most accomplished, largely because it was easy to tell the settings of Underland and many of its characters were done by computer, such as the landscape of the Red Queen’s castle and the character of Bayard Hamar the bloodhound.

Other than that, the film was something that I found to be surprisingly appealing.

For instance, while I did have mixed feelings regarding the CGI, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy every computer-generated element. As a matter of fact, the effects used for the Cheshire Cat were marvelous enough to be considered a prime example of an effects team creatively pushing the envelope, and the characters of Absolem the Caterpillar and Nivens McTwisp the White Rabbit looked so real.

The direction by Tim Burton, and the screenplay by Linda Woolverton, were excellent as well. Coming from a guy who previously saw Burton’s work in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and was unimpressed with it at the most, I really must say that I found this movie to be an improvement over the former.

Among the reasons for why I enjoyed Burton’s work in this movie was because his style of direction fit the film like a glove and translated so well. He didn’t make the film creepy for its own good, and he gave a greater sense of passion and creativity. Linda Woolverton’s writing was also quite a powerhouse, if I may add. Aided by Burton’s directing, Woolverton created a film that was undeniably full of genuine heart and emotion, and the film’s humorous and witty side was well-worked too. The best part was that nothing felt forced and Burton and Woolverton weren’t trying to copy the animated version at all, although there were snippets of nostalgia from the former that were quite amusing.

The music by Danny Elfman was likewise magnificent.

Unlike in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, it sounded like Elfman’s creative passion was able to successfully pull itself through into being part of this feature. His melodies had an emotionality that helped them feel so groundbreaking and alive, and they didn’t sound as...flat and by-the-numbers, so to speak. In more ways than one, Elfman managed to help the film be entrancing with just his music alone.

Finally, the performances of the cast, casting, characters, and character development were deeply top-notch.

Similar to the animated version, I couldn’t help but note that each performer fit their characters like peas in a pod. It was particularly incredible to see the cast giving their all, not only by giving powerhouse performances, but by making the characters entirely their own and as fully-realized as possible. The characters were likewise accompanied by dynamic development. If I had to pick what characters that I believe had the most outstanding developments, it would be Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the Red Queen. My favorite vocal portrayals were Alan Rickman as Absolem the Caterpillar and Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, and the human-visible cast members that I believe gave the best portrayals were Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter (which was even better than his work as Willy Wonka in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”), Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, and Mia Wasikowska as Alice.

In the end, Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” may not be a flawless movie, but there’s no denying that it contains a charm, passion, and creativity that helps it be something worthwhile. I’d definitely recommend this film over Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, that’s for sure.

So, I rate Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” 4½ out of 5 stars.