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Wussy · 03-06-2010

Synopsis: This is a sequel of sorts to the original Disney animated film. It's been 13 years since Alice's first trip down the rabbit hole, and she's a woman now and has long since dismissed those events as bad dreams. She's being proposed to by a snobbish lord, but she runs away from him when she sees a familiar-looking white rabbit run past her...

Thoughts: I was so BORED watching this thing. It just seemed to be going through the motions without any heart of its own.

Tim Burton seemed to want to change things just for the sake of changing them. For example, everyone has a name now. Alice Kingsley, Tarrant the Mad Hatter, Iracebeth the Red Queen, etc... Even the little dormouse from the tea party has a first name. It just seemed so odd when compared to both the original and the book.

Another example is the name of Wonderland in general. They actually correct Alice and say that the correct name is "Underland", and that it was only because she was confused as a child that she called it "Wonderland".

I really liked the playing card army. They looked really impressive and formidable while still retaining that "paper" feel.

Every time the Red Queen was on screen, I felt like I was playing NBA Jam with Big Head mode on.

So many big-name people are just wasted in this movie. Christopher Lee gets maybe 2 lines, and Alan Rickman has about 3 minutes of screen time total.

I was a little surprised that it didn't turn into the "Johnny Depp" show. He had a far, FAR larger part than he should've, but not so much that it didn't feel like it was Alice's movie.

Spoilerly thoughts: The first thing that happens is that she gets told of a prophecy that she will fulfill. Then, despite everyone else's insistance that the prophecy WILL BE FULFILLED, she keeps trying to fight her destiny. But at the end of the movie (surprise!) she fulfills the prophecy.

They could've cut out the entire movie and just skipped from being told of the prophecy to the part where she fulfills it and you would've missed nothing.

Goddamn the ending was stupid. She had literally NO reason to return to the "real" world. Her mother was getting along OK. Her sister was already married and had her own life. Her fiance would've just found someone else. Even her father's company was doing very well under a kindly new owner.

By staying, she would've been recognized all over "Underland" (God I hate that name) as a famous and formidable champion, had the ear of the queen, and basically could get anything she ever wanted. Instead, she leaves all that to become... an apprentice in her own father's company?! What the hell kind of bullshit is this?

GTS thoughts: She spends about 1/3 of the movie as a SW ranging from about 6 inches to about 1 inch. She then spends another 1/4 as a 7' amazon, which was unexpected.

The growth/shrink scenes (two of each) are all handled capably as you would expect. They do a revisit of the original "Eat Me / Drink Me" from the book, but it's very quick (it IS supposed to be a sequel).

03-06-2010	#363
Wussy Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 192	Re: Alice In Wonderland Synopsis: This is a sequel of sorts to the original Disney animated film. It's been 13 years since Alice's first trip down the rabbit hole, and she's a woman now and has long since dismissed those events as bad dreams. She's being proposed to by a snobbish lord, but she runs away from him when she sees a familiar-looking white rabbit run past her... Thoughts: I was so BORED watching this thing. It just seemed to be going through the motions without any heart of its own. Tim Burton seemed to want to change things just for the sake of changing them. For example, everyone has a name now. Alice Kingsley, Tarrant the Mad Hatter, Iracebeth the Red Queen, etc... Even the little dormouse from the tea party has a first name. It just seemed so odd when compared to both the original and the book. Another example is the name of Wonderland in general. They actually correct Alice and say that the correct name is "Underland", and that it was only because she was confused as a child that she called it "Wonderland". I really liked the playing card army. They looked really impressive and formidable while still retaining that "paper" feel. Every time the Red Queen was on screen, I felt like I was playing NBA Jam with Big Head mode on. So many big-name people are just wasted in this movie. Christopher Lee gets maybe 2 lines, and Alan Rickman has about 3 minutes of screen time total. I was a little surprised that it didn't turn into the "Johnny Depp" show. He had a far, FAR larger part than he should've, but not so much that it didn't feel like it was Alice's movie. Spoilerly thoughts: The first thing that happens is that she gets told of a prophecy that she will fulfill. Then, despite everyone else's insistance that the prophecy WILL BE FULFILLED, she keeps trying to fight her destiny. But at the end of the movie (surprise!) she fulfills the prophecy. They could've cut out the entire movie and just skipped from being told of the prophecy to the part where she fulfills it and you would've missed nothing. Goddamn the ending was stupid. She had literally NO reason to return to the "real" world. Her mother was getting along OK. Her sister was already married and had her own life. Her fiance would've just found someone else. Even her father's company was doing very well under a kindly new owner. By staying, she would've been recognized all over "Underland" (God I hate that name) as a famous and formidable champion, had the ear of the queen, and basically could get anything she ever wanted. Instead, she leaves all that to become... an apprentice in her own father's company?! What the hell kind of bullshit is this? GTS thoughts: She spends about 1/3 of the movie as a SW ranging from about 6 inches to about 1 inch. She then spends another 1/4 as a 7' amazon, which was unexpected. The growth/shrink scenes (two of each) are all handled capably as you would expect. They do a revisit of the original "Eat Me / Drink Me" from the book, but it's very quick (it IS supposed to be a sequel).