(24 May 2012)

Alice in Wonderland - Great Movie

This review is from: Alice in Wonderland (DVD) I was very impressed with this movie. Johnny Depp (terrible in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) was great. It is a little off-beat from the cartoon by Disney but I enjoyed this movie very much. I did not like the ending too much, I thought that she would meet Johnny Depp after she came back from Wonderland. I figured he would be a real person that she would fall in love with. I am a "Happy Ever After" romatic person. The story line was very good. The acting (by all participants) was very good also. This is a very good movie and well worth buying it. I am not sure about youngsters watching it. They might not understand it. It might frighten them (the monster at the end). But anyway, back to this movie, buy it by all means.

policy134 (23 May 2012)

Once again, a near-success from Burton

Great production design, a mildly amusing Johnny Depp and the mostmainstream storyline that I have ever seen in a Tim Burton film todate. As you can tell, I am totally divided as whether I thought thiswas a good or a bad day at the movies.The good news is that I thought that Johnny Depp did nicely. Notentirely up to par with previous characters, but at least he wasn't ascreepy as the Mad Hatter, as he was as Willy Wonka. The bad news isthat the story and most of the characters just doesn't have that kindof odd whimsy, usually found in Tim Burton's work. Everything is kindof watered down so as to not totally freak out mainstream audiences,particularly the kiddies. Also, there is kind of a moral to this filmthat I would have never expected coming from Burton.As for the animated characters, they were just not that much fun. I gota few chuckles out of the rabbit and the Cheshire cat but otherwisethey are pretty much what you would expect from an ordinary animatedfilm.Still, the film moves at a brisk pace and I can't say that I wastotally bored, I just expected more. By the way, after HelenaBonham-Carter's fifth "Off with their heads!", could you tell that itwas supposed to be funny by then?

ccthemovieman-1 (21 May 2012)

Disapppointing, Considering The Hype

Wow, now I understand all the negative reviews here at IMDb. I'd haveto agree with most of the folks here; this film was very disappointing.Yeah, being a Tim Burton film I knew I'd see some wild visuals withcrazy characters but even those were nothing that special and grewtiresome after an hour.In fact, the whole film started to drag after an hour, probably becausethe story was so poor. I found it uninvolved; I just didn't care aboutthese characters, and I should have. Burton took Lewis Carroll's famousstory and made it too dark and unlikable. It's not the first time he'sdone something like this.It might also be time for Johnny Depp to take off all the eyeliner andassorted makeup and begin to do more mature roles. Yeah, I know:craziness is part of his "schtick," but the guy just turned 47 years ofage. As he did in "Finding Neverland" and "Public Enemies," he can playcharacters that don't always look "Willy Wonka"-like bizarre. The samegoes for Burton, who seems to have gone one-too-many of the same thing.His writing and directing in this one lacks the outrageous fun he hadin so many of his earlier efforts. Being over 50 doesn't mean his brainstops, but he needs to re-focus his creativity.This film offers no heart-and-soul and is sorely lacking in the humordepartment. Burton's comedic films (i.e. Big Fish, Ed Wood,Bettlejuice, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory") seem to fare muchbetter. Why make this famous children's story so dark? I'm sorry but Iwas equally unimpressed with "Alice," played by newcomer MiaWasikowska. After seeing her in "Defiance" and "Amelia," I expectedmore out of her in this one. With a lot more feeling, she could havehalf-salvaged this film.All-in-all, the film is slightly less than "fair" and much less whenyou consider the hype and the expectations most of us had.

(20 May 2012)

Alice's adventures in high definition look mad.

This review is from: Alice in Wonderland [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) When my copy of Alice in Wonderland BD arrived I was very keen to see how good the movie looked in bluray, and well it was an excellent adventure that more than lived up to the original story. Being a Diney production the special fx are most entertaining and the plot becomes quickly engaging. While some of the characters are quite mad, like Johnny Deep's Mad Hatter, Alice's journey is highlighted by overcoming all odds to save Wonderland, and in the end realize things about her own reality. Quite a worthwhile bluray to add to one's collection, the visual imagery at times is quite psychedlic and mind bendingly good.

jejohnson2244 (20 May 2012)

If You Aren't Use to Tim Burton, You don't Need to See this

From all the flack I've read about this film, I just passed on seeingit a while back. So many negative reviews show no hope for a descentDisney flick. So today I watch it since my father rented it on DVD aday ago (after all my sister said it was just average so what can I sayand she's sixteen.) So after watching this supposed to be flop, I wasabsolutely shocked!! Turns out that the flack this film got was justflock because this has got to be the most amazing thing I've seen sincewell any live action film from Disney ( Prince of Persia doesn'tcount). Not only is it a nifty story but its what shall I say peopledon't have anymore? ORIGINALITY!!!! I mean come on 3-D is crapespecially when you take the same image and split it in two withblurriness. If you want 3D get kicked in the face or punched in theeye. The visual art is very fascinating, the acting is amazingespecially the red queen. I mean she kept yelling during the film butit matched her personality and gave the character charisma. Depp as thehatter was just creepy and spectacular. ( Why couldn't he play thejoker? o well). The animals had to be on PCP or coke because man werethey nut. All in All I rate this with 9( since I don't know how to putthis in a 8. 9) out of 10 because Burton just puts his spin on it verywell and it shows. Though I seriously recommend this to kids 12 1/2years of age because some scenes for example (when Depp stares at oneof the animals at the table and his eyes turn dark and glow or thescene when the mouse rips the cats eyeball out and runs with it on itssword like a an olive on a skewer)will cause either severe nightmaresor psychological issues( I doubt). This movie deserves its 1 billiondollars because it earned it.

Corky1984 (19 May 2012)

well-crafted fantasy adventure

There have been numerous versions of Alice in Wonderland, but TimBurton's take on the famous story is a welcome addition. By bringing insome new plot lines and a different theme, Burton injects a bit offresh energy into what is a well-known tale. We find Alice now enteringwomanhood, trying to fend off the unwanted marriage plans of a sicklyaristocratic oik. Finding herself back in Wonderland, Alice has littlerecollection of her earlier visits; was it all a dream she wonders. Asshe travels further into Wonderland, she encounters many of thefamiliar faces, and they were portrayed very effectively. The CheshireCat was brilliantly voiced by Stephen Fry, whilst Alan Rickman did afine turn as the caterpillar. Johnny Depp was an intriguing mad hatterand Helena Bonham Carter was good as the egocentric 'off with theirheads' Red Queen, complete with bulbous head and giant red hair. The 3Dspecial effects were good and made a good film that little bit richer.The colours were vibrant and the action scenes interesting. The film isobviously pitched at a younger audience, but has plenty of entertainingmoments for parents too. Overall, the latest Alice flick was good fun.

kushka53 (14 May 2012)

Don't waste your money

I will quote from a friend before elaborating further, as he sums thisup perfectly. "The verdict on Alice… It was okay. I think that it senta much better message to children (especially young girls) than olderDisney movies (if you wish upon a star— basically sit around, hope, andit will happen). Nevertheless, the graphics, which look awesome in theadvertisements, just made me want to see Avatar again. And other thanthe red queen,the acting was bland and the characters didn't reallydrive the story. Johnny Depp is so interested in characterization hedoesn't connect, in a human way, with anyone else. (And what's withthose eyes? Yikes!) I felt like Burton just forced a lot of ideastogether without making them feel like they grew out of each other.It's not quite as disappointing as the last Indiana Jones, but…"Personally, I don't understand all the critics gushing over this movie.Have they all forgotten what a really good magical movie really lookslike? It's basically Disney as usual with a few Burton twists, i.e. theCheshire cat and the Red Queen's bizarre appearance, and other thanthat I nearly fell asleep. Given the ability of the actors that weresigned, this was a fairly boring film. It tried soooo hard but somehowmissed the mark. A little less CG effects and more attempts at filmmaking and it would have been a better movie. After all, The 5,000Fingers of Dr. T managed to be a classic with so very little, as didFreaks--two very different, but equally effective, black and whitefilms. And let's not forget, of course, Cocteau's Beauty and the Beastwith the great Jean Marais as the Beast. The scene where he carries inhis arms Beauty, who has fainted, down his hallway and the candles heldby human arms open out as he walks by is timeless cinema magic. Burton,you wish! Ah, what to do? Burton is everybody's darling these days butI just don't see it. I'd prefer he would do cartoons and animation.That he is brilliant at. But flesh and blood isn't his cup of tea. 2stars out of 10, in my book. Don't waste your money!

(13 May 2012)

Super remake of movie!

This review is from: Alice in Wonderland (DVD) Movie starts out with yeah you know she fell down the rabbit hole. Somewhere you forget and Johnny Dept takes over and WOW! It's greatfor all ages including Grandma's.

torp_pink (12 May 2012)

Johnny was the best part of the movie.....

I love Tim Burton films and Johnny Depp is my all-time favorite actorand always will be and I love the two together. So ever since I heardabout this movie I was excited and I was happy to see it. I wasdisappointed but not as much as some people appear to be.Yes the plot of the movie was very dry, as I warn people who wish tosee it. There is just the one story: Alice goes to Wonderland and mustsave it. There are no little twists. No turns. No extra storiesbranching off to capture our interest. But I do believe that thegraphics and some of the characters made up for that. Mia's portrayalof Alice was okay but it could have been better. She seemed monotonous.She didn't show too much emotion and I think she could have been alittle more shocked of some of the things that happened to her. The Redand White Queens were well put together and they were both amusing.Absolem was brilliant, as Alan Rickman makes his characters. The Knave,Dormous, March Hare... they were all wonderful. I love Stephen Fry,he's an amazing voice actor and Chesh was brilliant. He was probably mysecond favorite character in the movie. And, of course, Johnny. Nomatter what you put him in. No matter what situation, role, moviewhatever, he's always brilliant. He has this ability to hold anaudience's attention. I barely noticed Mia's dry acting, I barelynoticed the boring plot because of the brilliant Mad Hatter. I have tosay that it was the best portrayal of a Mad Hatter that I have everseen because he was actually MAD. Johnny also combined a lot of hisother characters into the Mad Hatter, particularly Jack Sparrow andWilly Wonka who were both insane (and had awesome hats) just like theMad Hatter. I also enjoyed his continuous voice changes. I like theScottish accent, it made me think of Braveheart (without Mel Gibson'sfake Scottish accent). I also liked Hatter's evil alter-ego, it was anice twist to the character.The graphics were also brilliant. I love Tim Burton's attention todetail and he didn't disappoint me in that aspect of the film.But the plot and Alice herself left much to be desired. And it alsoannoyed me (though most people might disagree with me on this fact)that the Hatter appeared to have feelings for Alice but didn't act onthem. I know Johnny said that they were more like siblings but I knowwhat I saw on that screen.All up I liked the movie but it could have been better.

Christopher Rosen (12 May 2012)

It might be time for Johnny Depp and Tim Burton to start thinking about seeing other people.

mamoon66 (08 May 2012)

Alice in Tim's Wonderland.......the real title

I am writing this review for the soul purpose of explaining who andwhat Tim Burton is...i do not see how any one could say that " TimBurton did not meet expectation" or "Tim Burton and Johnny Depp arelosing the touch" or "the movie was only animation"... i am sorry butas a media literate person,this movie had a deep meaning and it shouldnot be compared to Alice in Wonderland the original Walt Disneyproduction.This was Tim Burton's perspective of what the world of Alicelooks like. Tim Burton is a visionary with an exceedingly highintellectual understanding of the world we live in,as he alwaysexplains it with his utterly amazing imaginative mind. And pairing himup with Depp, was the most amazing thing that could ever everhappen.Johnny Depp is so Enigmatic in his approach that even though hewas given a role that did not really impact the original Alice inwonderland, working with Tim made his role as a "Mad Hatter" take astep forward in an original idea of what The Hatter's world was like.And how could i forget Helena Bonham Carter, this actress is such acharmer, all the other female roles that were in the movie felt so weakin front of her. Her Portrayal as the "off with head" Red Queen wasexquisite work of art. Even though we still did not find what theriddle meant, "Why does the raven look like a desk?" the only meaning icould think of after watching this magnificent work of art is : "Youwork and work to give birth to your dark side when there is so muchcolor and imagination to live for".I Highly recommend to those who know and can see what Tim is capableoff.

Paul Creeden (07 May 2012)

Expunged Intelligence

Who are you? I felt like the Blue Caterpillar as I watched this movie,without benefit of the water pipe. This production has flattened theintelligence of the original story and turned it into boilerplateDisney. Sad. No Dodo dialog. No Walrus. No Tweedle-Dumb-Dee repartee.No discernible March-Hare riddles. A vaudeville shadow of its source.Perhaps the American psyche is getting stupid because the diet offeredup by its media is lacking in proper nutrients. Johnny Depp needs tolet go of his zany thing for a while. I admire his talent, but thisaspect of his repertoire is getting stale. Helen Bonham Carter andStephen Fry (Cheshire's voice) steal the show.

James Hitchcock (06 May 2012)

"Alice" as it might have been had it been written by C.S. Lewis

"Alice in Wonderland" has been filmed several times, with a greater orlesser fidelity to the original story, but Tim Burton's recent versiondeparts more radically from Lewis Carroll's text than virtually anyother. Burton has said that he never felt a connection emotionally tothe original, about a girl wandering around from one weird character toanother, so he wanted to make it feel more like a story than a seriesof events.His solution was, essentially, to film the book not as written byCarroll but as it might have been had it been written by C.S. Lewis. Inthe film, Alice is not a child but a young woman of nineteen. (Hersurname is Kingsley, possibly a reference to Charles Kingsley, anotherVictorian children's writer). She is being pressurised by her familyinto an unwanted marriage with Hamish, a pompous young aristocrat, andrunning away from his unwelcome proposal, she falls down a rabbit holeand finds herself in Underland (as Wonderland is renamed here).Underland is under the tyrannical rule of the Red Queen, and Alicelearns that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, acreature controlled by the Red Queen, thus freeing Underland fromtyranny and restoring its rightful ruler, the White Queen, to thethrone.Although some, such as the Duchess and the Mock Turtle, are omitted,most of the characters in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" make anappearance, along with some from its sequel "Through theLooking-Glass", but they are pressed into the service of the aboveplot, which resembles that of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" or"Prince Caspian" more than it does that of Carroll's novels. The MadHatter, for example, becomes a leader of the resistance to the RedQueen and Carroll's dormouse, originally a fat, sleepy creature,becomes a warrior-mouse reminiscent of Lewis' Reepicheep.Lewis' "Narnia" stories are, of course, Christian allegories, and myinitial thought that Burton might be trying to force "Alice inWonderland" into the same mould became even stronger in the scenes nearthe end in which Alice puts on armour and arms herself with the VorpalSword in order to fight the dragon-like Jabberwocky. In these scenesAlice becomes a female equivalent of the heroic warrior-saints oftraditional Christian iconography whose purpose is to symbolise thespiritual battle of good and evil, a sort of Saint Georgina and theDragon, or Saint Michelle overcoming Satan.Burton's urge to Christianise "Alice in Wonderland" may have been dueto perceived similarities between Carroll and Lewis; both were, afterall, Oxford dons and both were devout Christians. (Carroll was anordained minister of the Anglican Church). Yet the two men were quitedifferent as writers, and despite his religious beliefs Carroll neverintended the "Alice" stories to be neat religious allegories. Indeed,they are not neatly constructed stories with a beginning, a middle andan end; their logic is that of the dream. They can be seen as nonsensenovels or as examples of literary Surrealism long before that term wasfirst applied to the visual arts.This is not an altogether bad film. It is saved from a lower mark bytwo things. The first is the quality of some of the acting, especiallyfrom Helena Bonham Carter (a frequent Burton collaborator) as the RedQueen, a splendidly over-the-top villainess. The Red Queen is, in fact,a combination of the character of that name from "Through the LookingGlass" and the Queen of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland". We learnthat her first name is Iracebeth, a play on the word "irascible" andthe name Elizabeth; her appearance, with her red hair and very paleskin, is clearly based on that of Queen Elizabeth I. I also liked AnneHathaway's White Queen, not by any means a straightforward heroine.According to Hathaway, her character "really likes the dark side, butis scared of going too far into it", something certainly brought out inher interpretation. Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter is completely weird, butin the context of this particular story that counts as praise ratherthan criticism.The other factor in the film's favour is Burton's visual imagination,something as much in evidence here as in any of his other films. (Thefilm is a mixture of live action and digital animation). Burton mayhave renamed Wonderland as Underland, but it still remains a strangeand wondrous place. An example of his imagination is the character ofthe Bandersnatch, a ferocious beast mentioned by Carroll but neverprecisely described. Here it is portrayed as a mixture of hyaena,tiger, bulldog and pig, a curious combination but one fully in linewith Carroll's imagination.The Disney cartoon version of "Alice" also departs from Carroll's text,yet remains faithful to its spirit. (My favourite cinema version,however, remains the British musical from the seventies with FionaFullerton). I don't think that Tim Burton's version remains faithful inthe same way. He takes a piece of dreamlike surrealism and turns itinto a tale with a moral, or perhaps two morals. (The moral of theUnderland section is "Fight valiantly against the world, the flesh andthe devil"; that of the quasi-feminist Victorian back-story can besummarised as "Girl Power!"). If Burton never felt an emotionalconnection to the original stories, that might suggest that he was notthe ideal person to direct a film based on them. 6/10

(06 May 2012)

Malice In Wonderland

There was quite the schism when Tim Burton remade Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Some felt like he'd injected a much needed dose of modern madness to Dahl's tale of Kids Behaving Badly. Others felt like he'd bastardized an already pitch perfect film by making the whole thing acidic and aggressive. He made the factory grander, weirder, and far more unsettling, and he took Gene Wilder's impishly subdued Wonka and made him into a twitchy germaphobe with creepy teeth. I found it difficult to compare the two films, because it seemed like they were trying to do two completely different things. The first film was about childish wonder and the fine line between growing up and growing old. The second film was about daddy issues and the dangers of drug abuse. I think.Burton's next big remake, ALICE IN WONDERLAND suffers from the same division of purpose. In fact, it would be far better if the film had been billed as a sequel. ALICE IN WONDERLAND II: BEYOND THE THUNDERDOME. Alice is no longer a precocious and curious child, and when she falls down the rabbit hole this second time, she realizes that she misheard the name of the place when she was younger. It's not called Wonderland. It's called Underland. Burton is known for his darkness, and that name change gives you a good idea of just where Burton applied most of the strokes of his grim, black brush. The effect is contrary to what most people (fans of the original, for sure) will be expecting from the film. The original was about the wonder and beauty of a child's imagination; this film is about the dreary blackness of control.Of course, the original Wonderland had its dark sides (not the least of which being a queen with a penchant for beheadings), but those dark sides were the unavoidable shadows you got from all the loony brightness that dripped from the trees or exploded from the ground (or just appeared out of thin air). What Burton has done is take all that background menace and bring it straight to the fore, so that the wonder and enchantment take a backseat to the film's angry (and rather dull) plot. What we have here is a Wonderland -- excuse me; I mean Underland -- that is steadily decaying under the rule of its Machiavellian queen ("It's better to be feared than loved," she mutters, a copy of The Prince surely hidden beneath her dress). According to a prophetic scroll, Alice must return and restore order to the world by dispatching of the queen's barbarous pet, the Jabberwocky (a beast lifted from a few of Carroll's poems).Wonderland as Carroll described it was always distinctly amoral. It sprawled and seethed and pulsed with chaotic color. Burton's Underland is all about justice and slavishness and it hisses with murky moodiness. Instead of having a Mad Hatter of dizzying antics and baffling wordplay, you now have Depp's (oddly Scottish) Hatter, a man who is less mad than he is bi-polar. One minute he is railing against the queen and crying for rebellion, the next minute he's sadly melting into himself as if struggling with senility. He shares the screen with the excessively plastic White Queen (Anne Hathaway cheesing it up big time) and the encephalitic Red Queen (played by an emotionally mute Helena Bonham Carter; she uses about as many facial expressions as an actual deck of cards, and I never once believed her when she called for yet another person's head). The only character who really lights up the screen is, of course, the Cheshire Cat, and even his psychotic omnipresence is neutered by the film's insistence on rules (I CANNOT believe a character actually claimed there were rules in Wonderland!) and structure.There's no real plot to Carroll's tale, and that was part of its beauty and charm. Burton's movie, on the other hand, is what you get when people pretend that madness is supposed to make sense. Although it doesn't need to be said that Burton has created a visually arresting tale (the 3D mostly a so-so addition), he hasn't done anything to enchant the mind or heart. He has instead replaced Carroll's whimsy with bellicose dreariness, and he's supplanted the frivolity with your basic (and boring) movie morals: Believe in yourself! Don't back down from adversity! Enslave the Chinese with the opium trade!Forget I said that last part. I'm not sure what it has to do with the movie, unless it's Burton's way of slapping himself in his own face. You won't get the reference unless you see the film to the very end anyway. If you do, then you might find, like I did, that this final moment of the movie makes the preceding bits all the darker. It proves that, although fun in all the most obvious ways, Burton's film still lacks charm, grandeur, and the kind of loony and limitless innocence that makes Wonderland a place anyone -- young or old -- would ever want to visit.

samantha roberts (05 May 2012)

Not The Same As The Old Version

The old version of Alice In Wonderland was perfect for any ageespecially for children with animated characters, and childish humourbut with the latest version I found that it was more adult humour andit was rather boring it was more seriously took so I thought it wasperfect for children I believe no children would understand half of itas the joke they tried to make was rather boring and not funny. Thevoices of some characters was really annoying, theirs annoying andtheirs ANNOYING and she really did get on my nerves. At first I thoughtthe film was good but I thought I dragged out a bit and I got boredfrom my opinion I wouldn't recommend it to children maybe to adults

Jona1988 (05 May 2012)

Does not impress at all.

It seemed so promising. Tim Burton the perfect director to make anadaptation of a weird tale such as Alice. But the result feels like areally big misfire. Surprising, in a negative way.The film is technically brilliant. They have really succeeded increating a visually outstanding Wonderland. Many big names in the cast.Mia Wasikowska is very good as Alice but I must state that she is notmore than good. At least myself didn't come to care that much for thelead character throughout the film but maybe the writing is to beblamed. Johnny Depp plays the kind of crazy roll he so often does andjust as good again here. The rest of the big names also do a good jobhowever the one who stands out is Helena Bonham Carter. She steals theshow every time she appears with her over the top acting, perfect asthe Red Queen.While the outside of the film is well done the big flaw is that thereis nothing much underneath the brilliant surface. Even though they havecreated an amazing looking Wonderland the film feels really stiff andempty. The story is not bad but there's nothing much in the plot to getone interested. After a pretty good beginning it soon seems to be goingon routine, eliminating any possibilities for suspense or thrills. It'sjust nothing special. Soon one realises it's just an ordinary Disneyfilm. When the ending comes the viewers have since long seen where it'sheading. Some bits of the film are somewhat funny but quite a fewscenes felt pretty awkward, like forced humor. Seamed at times likethey where really trying to hard. It is OK to take liberties with thematerial that you base a film on. I have not read the books so to me itfollowed loosely what I knew about Alice adventures. Still I feel theyfailed, this is really blank. I think I can state that it does not dothe classic justice.Alice in Wonderland is not a bad film. But it is still a big failurebecause I feel it could and should have been so much. In the end asomewhat entertaining film but sadly a major disappointment. When theygather up a crew such as this to make a re-imagining of a classic manyassume it will be something special. This Alice in Wonderland isdefinitely nothing special just average at best. 6/10

mysteryfan04 (01 May 2012)

Disappointing Fantasy Film

Alice in Wonderland was one of my most anticipated of 2010, and I wishI was still waiting. The film, while somewhat solid, never seems to hitits stride. It moves at an extremely plodding pace and the plot is veryuneven. Mia Wasikowska does a fine job as the soon-to-be-married Alice,but the screenplay lets her down. Oscar nominees Johnny Depp, HelenaBonham Carter, and Anne Hathaway also deliver solid performances. Theclimactic showdown is sketchily choreographed with uninterestingaction. A lazy ending and sinister tone ruins what should be a fun,interesting romp through Wonderland. Tim Burton does prove he candeliver a well-executed backstory and fabulous visuals, but this is oneof his weaker efforts.

garlonuss (01 May 2012)

Alice in the Palace

It's definitely one of the more commercially marketable Tim Burtonmovies, which may be a result of doing it with Disney. But there are afew little drawbacks for me. I like Mia Wasikowska as Alice in general,but there are a few times when she didn't seem to be emoting quiteenough. She seems to act out the gravity of her situation well enough,in general, but, for instance, in the scene where she finds the smalldoor and keeps getting big and small until she can get through thedoor, it simply felt like she was doing the actions because the scripttold her to. I may have been expecting too much, but it seemed like shewas just going through the steps.Also, the 3D aspect feels a bit inconsistent. At times, there are somenicely impressive shots, but at other times it doesn't seem all thatdifferent from a 2D film. I had heard that Tim Burton shot the filmwith a standard camera and then had the footage processed into 3D (sortof like what they did with the Nightmare Before Christmas 3D) so thatmay have made me more critical when I watched it and maybe I'm being abit too harsh, but there it is.Other than those issues, the visual aspect of the movie is actuallyquite creative, inventive, ... um ... made-up-I've, and ...Tim-Burton-I've. Don't expect the original Alice story. (Either one,since many people are content to forget that the Tweedles are actuallyfrom "Through the Looking-Glass", not "Alice's Adventures inWonderland".) Tim Burton has restructured the story since he felt--andrightly so--that Alice's stories are more a series of short encountersrather than one overarching story. The restructured story now ties itall into one meaningful adventure, and I think it works quite well.On the whole, not my favorite Burton, but it's a good movie and I feelcomfortable recommending it. (Though unless you feel you really have tosee it in 3D, you should probably save your money and see the 2Dversion as it doesn't really take full advantage of the possibilitiesof the 3D format.)

(30 April 2012)

Dreary, Drab, Lifeless Mess that Blu-ray can't Save.

You have to hand to Disney; they really are treating this Blu-ray release like a million bucks. I actually got excited for this release again, that is until I remembered I didn't really like the movie. I thought it was an ugly, blurry mess because of the 3D but after watching the Blu-ray last night, no, it's just an ugly drab mess - period. I don't understand how Tim Burton got the cinematography so wrong on this. I said in my original review that Tim Burton was born to make this movie - 10 films ago, now it just feels like I've seen it all a million times before with more passion from the director.Picture/PresentationI really expected to love the Blu-ray experience, I mean I officially hate most 3D films so I thought watching this in the crispness of HD would enhance the experience and it doesn't. It's one of the worst looking films I've ever seen on ye old Blu-ray. The transfer is fine, but I don't think there's any amount of sharpness you can add that makes up for the dreariness of the production quality. Audio sounds great, but a boring soundtrack doesn't help matters. Subtitles are available in Spanish and French. This comes in Disney's standard 3 Disc packaging (Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy) with a slip case. I like the cover art, but there's nothing that stands out. Menu navigation is easy, clean and straightforward to use.ExtrasDisney does add one unique unadvertised extra and that's something called a Descriptive Audio Track. It's very cool; it's some woman that's describing everything that's happening on the screen. It's as though you are listening to an audio book. I hope all future Disney productions include this; it adds a whole new dimension to the viewing experience. Other than this new feature, the rest of the extras are an extensive set of featurettes that show you how the production was put together and cast interviews. Warner has Maximum Movie Mode and Universal has U-Control, Fox we just won't mention them - we're lucky if they give us one 4 minute featurette, Disney really needs to come up with their version of Picture N. Picture. They generally do everything else right, but skimp on this one feature.CommentsI wish I could rave about this disc, I always love and appreciate a great PR Campaign, and Disney Home Video rarely disappoints but this package sucks, not because of anything on this set, but because the movie is barely watchable (I turned it off 20 minutes into it) and no amount of shine is going to fix this simple fact. Wonderland should be this amazing, vibrant looking place - even if it's under control of evil, there should be a sense of awe to the visuals instead everything just lays there looking dead and fake. There's no life to anything on screen - even the actors. You should skip this movie altogether, it's not worthy of a rental that alone a purchase.

Bwasiz (29 April 2012)

Like your favorite t-shirt at the bottom of your laundry basket

If there ever was a strong case of plagiarism it would be Tim Burton'sAlice in Wonderland, who incidentally acknowledged he never reallyliked the story to begin with. And boy, does it show. Aside from occasionally beautiful set pieces (all CGI) Mr Burtonmanages to take the story (both the 1951 Disney version as the originalbook) and butcher nearly everything that was good about it. OriginallyAlice dreamt up this world to rebel against the status quo she wasraised in, only to discover that in random madness she would not findmore sense or happiness then in the reality of her own world. No more random madness, no more 'coming of age' revelations, no, TimBurton instead steals the story of Wonderland and all its characters,twists and turns it into something that only slightly resembles it andbecomes like unwashed laundry; stale, muff and in need of a thoroughclean up.