Alice in Wonderland (2010)

If I had to sum up Alice in Wonderland in one word, it would be “boring,” or one of its synonyms. That’s the one word that comes to mind when I think back about the time I spent watching it, although “irritating” is another one that I might use. I was frustrated and bored by Alice in Wonderland, which is a shame, because I had high hopes for it. I like the cast, I’ve been a fan of some of the director’s previous works, and it had a great visual idea.

Unfortunately, it falls apart near the middle, and never puts itself back together again. It’s like Humpty-Dumpty in that respect, although now I’m mixing children stories. Anything it had going for it gets removed by the half way point, and by the end, I was sick and tired of everything that was still on-screen. With that said, thanks to how unique it looks, it’s a movie that you’ll have trouble getting out of your mind or forgetting about. It’s definitely a mixed bag, although the plot and characters undermine the visual style and world that’s created for us.

Nineteen-year-old Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is attending a party, when she is met with a marriage proposal. She’s expected to say yes, but instead decides to go chase a rabbit down a hole. I mean, what else would you do in her situation? She ends up finding her way into Underland, a magical place where all animals can talk, people can have heads in any shape, and everything is made of CGI. Alice wanders around for a little while, fights with some of the native creatures, and ends up finding her way to the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), who has very long legs. There are also two queens in the land, the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway).

We eventually find out that there’s a prophecy involving Alice. The Red Queen is currently in power, and she’s evil because she mistreats everyone whenever she gets the opportunity. She owns a dragon-like creature called the Jabberwocky, which is supposedly the reason that nobody has tried to overtake her. The White Queen is the good one, as she always looks like she’s stoned out of her mind, and would never hurt a fly. Legend tells that Alice will come along and slay the Jabberwocky for the people of the kingdom.

There are a great deal of other characters too, all voiced by pretty prominent actors. Crispin Glover, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall and Alan Rickman all lend their voices to this production, although who voiced which character isn’t all that important. Everything is full of CGI, with Alice being the only fully human character after we get to Underland.

The first red-flag for me went off when I saw the Mad Hatter, who sometimes has a Scottish accent, and sometimes doesn’t. I guess that’s how the “mad” part is being represented here. He annoyed me, and I wanted him to be a one-off character, so that we could spend more time with Alice. Instead, he essentially becomes the main character, dominating the screen for most of the time he appears.

The next red-flag came when I found out the true plot, involving the prophecy and promised epic battle. There isn’t a lot of action throughout the film, so why did it have to end with a battle scene? It does, just as you’d expect, but even that doesn’t make a lot of sense. The prophecy — something that everyone believes in and doesn’t doubt for a second — states that Alice will be the one to set everyone free. Why are other characters following her into battle? They believe in the prophecy, and if so, then Alice won’t need help to kill this dragon, because it’s been predetermined.

The secondary characters, including Alice, end up getting pushed aside. Alice, despite being in the film’s title and the key for the entire plot, gets less time than she should, right up until the end when the inevitable battle with the Jabberwocky, and the Red Queen’s army, occurs. Depp is a frequent collaborator with director Tim Burton, and it shows. Once his character is introduced, there are few moments when the Mad Hatter is left alone. When he does disappear, we actually start to pick up momentum and get some mileage out of Alice finding out what Underland is about.

I wanted to learn a lot about this world, and to the film’s credit, we explore it a great deal. We learn about its rules, nuances, creatures, and pretty much everything that there is to find out. This works to its advantage, almost enough to make it worth watching. This is a world that is designed so beautifully and imaginatively that you’ll remember it after you finish watching Alice in Wonderland. In fact, it might well be only thing you do remember, and rightly so, because everything else isn’t worth the effort.

Alice in Wonderland bored and infuriated me, largely because of how much potential is wasted. A great world is crafted for us, but instead of focusing on it, or a character who serves as our liaison to it, we pay more attention to Johnny Depp occasionally putting on a Scottish accent, while being involved in a plot that has no surprises and little reason for you to care. This is a movie where the world is much better than anyone involved in it, and although it does get some focus, there isn’t enough there for us to be wholly captivated, nor is there enough to make it worth a watch.