Review: Alice in Wonderland 3D

Alice in Wonderland is a very humorous and trippy book. I say "trippy," because this story is always pulling something weird out of nowhere-- random junk such as talking flowers, vanishing cats, and smoking caterpillars. Tim Burton takes on task of creating his own twisted 3D version of this classic. It's a fantastic idea, sure, but does it deliver? Find out in my review of Alice in Wonderland... IN THREE DEE.

Story with holes.
The plot is centered around a girl named Alice. Wait, did I say girl? I meant woman. Lady. She's grown up in this one, around nineteen years of age. As a young child, she had strange reoccuring dreams of a place called "Wonderland." These dreams followed her all her life. Fast forward to the present. Now she's being asked her hand in marriage (by a rather unsightly man), when she sees a freaking rabbit wearing a freaking waistcoat. She follows it to a rabbit hole, jumps in, and all hell brakes loose.

Down this hole, she comes to Wonderland (or is it Underland?). Apparently, the Red Queen's been starting some sh*t and screwing over the whole place. Alice of course has to stop her and slay the famed Jabberwocky (beware it, my son) so that the White Queen can have the crown.

Criticism Tyme
I shall first mention that this film is NOTHING like its source material. I'm talking about the plot AND the characters' personalities. No longer is Alice dimwitted and curious. It seems all of the creatures she meets are now quite normal and it takes away from the charm of the original book. Now the Mad Hatter and the March Hare are hardly mad at all, they're either sane just plain retarded, depending on the moment.

Another thing that bugs me is the movie's new plot. For some reason, the writers insisted on spoiling the already obvious ending every chance they got. I'm serious, through the ENTIRE film the ending was just shoved down your throat. The film also tried to add in many references about the book, but these references all just seemed slapped on at the last minute.

Another thing that perplexes me is why the writers chose to make the Jabberwocky a central character. The Jabberwocky was just a minor character out of a poem in the book Through the Looking Glass. Why?

Acting.
I'm sorry to report that the acting in Alice in Wonderland is a huge disappointment. A lot of the dialouge comes out wrong (though sometimes the dialouge itself is to blame), and even Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter)'s acting is sub par. Alice and the White Queen especially get on my nerves. You'd expect more from Disney.

Dimenisions. This movie has three of 'em.
Before I come to my conclusion, I need to add that this is a very good looking film, especially in 3D. While it's not as imaginative as some of Tim Burton's other work, everything still looks awesome and almost believeable. The movie also has great sound effects, a solid score and nice camera work. Unfortunately, that's all this Alice in Wonderland has going for it, eye candy.

The Verdict
Alice in Wonderland could have been an extraordinary film, if only it followed its source material. Acting and story drew the short straw, unfortunately. The only reason to watch this is for the eye candy. 5.5/10

IIRC, the film was sort of a sequel to the books and original film.

^That doesn't change the fact that the plot was stupid, the ending was spoiled through the whole movie, and the characters' personalities were completely altered, losing the charm from the original book and film.

I thought that was the same for all remakes of old classic films.

At least the 3D trailers were good. Toy Story 3, Tron...