The new Alice

Ahem, how to do this tactfully...


That movie sucked.
Personal opinion. But here are the reasons.

Aside from the continuity list (Most discovered without skimming IMDB but this list is nice and keeps me from typing them up.) this movie failed completely to capture the "essence" of Wonderland.

Mia Wasikowska's acting left a lot to be desired, like maybe some expression or arm movement. I left this movie believing her to be suffering from a serious vitamin deficiency that made her so listless she couldn't even pretend to be mildly fascinated let alone curious.

Why only the monster from The Jabberwocky? If you're going to throw in additional Lewis Carroll creatures why only one? Why not multiple? Snark? That would not have been lost to this generation. (Plus Jabberwocky is the name of the poem.) Why couldn't we have other characters come back? Walrus and the Carpenter?

To continue on that point. I feel this film was more an homage to emo-goth-punk kids than Lewis Carroll or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. For one thing I found it incredibly difficult to find any logic or mathematical puzzles Carroll was known for. Wonderland wasn't scary or frightening. It was mildly intriguing. I guess I was just following "Alice's" interactions with her surroundings, vague and indistinct. I guess had I been there I would have been more shocked or surprised by what I was finding. What I did find was lots of GI and good costume design. Nice additions to a movie but they don't make it good. I did not find curiosity, excitement, or wonder.

After watching this awful film I got online to see how and why they screwed it up so bad. Maybe it was a mistake, lost budget, ran out of time, etc.
No, the things about the movie I did not enjoy they did on purpose.

One of my issues was it's deviation from the original overreaching theme of Carroll. A girl lost and wandering encountering strange strangers. Burton was quoted as saying, "It was always a girl wandering around from one crazy character to another, and I never really felt any real emotional connection."His goal was to give "some framework of emotional grounding" and "to try and make Alice feel more like a story as opposed to a series of events."
Also, the Mad Hatter wasn't unstable enough. In the same previously linked article we find it's because Johnny Depp (still a great actor) wanted to make him more human, someone you can identify with. Then you're completely missing the point! He's mad! He's been poisoned by mercury. It looked more to me like he'd had a stroke with those unequal pupils...

And the proportions?! The Knave was supposed to be 7 feet tall? What? Did anyone else pick up on that?

How come dresses only rip inappropriately when needed. WTF was she wearing when she shrunk? (John thinks it was a sock.)

Also, Carroll's Alice was very political. Now while I did shudder to think I was going to hear more about unnecessary wars, or oil spills, or healthcare plans I was hoping maybe they would try to do the film justice in this aspect. Make a reflection on today's societal nonsense. Maybe they could stick with the original theme and make fun of Victorian society (mild in the beginning and end parts) but no. Just mostly visual effects not a lot of substance.

I feel like this story was pushed along WAY too quickly. I didn't have time to settle on "moments" the movie provided before I was reminded of them again. It was like watching previews for a movie over and over and over. All the good bits were ruined. What was with the movie recap during the fight scene? Do you think I would forget that quickly?

I like Danny Elfman, I think he does a great job with music. But this was too much. EVERY scene had to be EPIC. I had no rest or break between MAJOR EVENTS. It was like this paragraph, TOO MUCH CAPS LOCK.

Also, they made her a exporter to China? Confused. I found out the reason for that choice. It's because of the myth that Alice was a drug induced hallucination and this was in reference to the opium wars between Britain and China at the time.
...

Sigh, I'm sure there's more about this movie that made it difficult for me to enjoy. Alas, I've exhausted myself.