THE FIRST HALF -- At least two critics I read after seeing Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" asked the question, Where's the wonder?
Lynn asks, Where's the emotional connection?
I ask: With a bandersnatch and jabberwocky and evaporating Cheshire cat, who wouldn't grow curiouser and curiouser?
Fact is, I feel completely at home in Burton's various worlds, magical places that bloom and slither apart from the boredom and falseness of the real world.
In "Alice," I was held by wonder and joy the entire time. I connected with the nonsensical sadness of the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the weary wisdom of Absalom the caterpillar (voiced by Alan Rickman), and the lonely wickedness of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).
Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton mix and match Lewis Carroll's works, and update Alice (Mia Wasikowska) to a 19-year-old about to be married to the snootiest lord ever to grace Britain's bloodlines. No wonder she chases a rabbit only she can see.
And what a trip it becomes, down the rabbit hole into Jefferson Airplane land. Wonderland is now Underland, no longer the fantasy of youth but a paradise lost to the Red Queen's lust for power, absent any love.
The whimsical remains, but a gloom casts a pall over the land as well, and the march hare, hatter, cat and mouse are discombobulated and bedraggled.
Can Alice restore her dream world? Anything beats that red-haired dweeb who just proposed to her in the real world. Four-and-a-half Hearts.
THE BETTER HALF -- I didn't find "Alice in Wonderland" quite as wonderful as The First Half. I'll admit the film is visually stunning, but to me it's lacking an important element in a fairy tale, which is heart.
Although I was never bored and completely interested in seeing where director Tim Burton would take us in his kaleidoscopic story of colors and frenzy, I was also rather disconnected.
It was as if my emotions were never fully utilized. Sure, I felt the usual Burton fright, but I laughed a little and never once came close to getting a lump in my throat.
What's a 19-year-old girl to do when a drippy aristocrat wants your hand in marriage and everyone is pressuring you to grow up and conform? If you're Alice (Mia Wasikowska), follow a white rabbit into the woods and fall down a hole for a little away time.
Underland, as it's called here, is quite the "Calgon, take me away" place. Alice encounters talking dogs, cats and flowers, a guru-like blue caterpillar and potions and cakes that can either make you shrink to fit into a teapot or grow 10 feet tall.
Alice also must deal with a strange group of misfits that either think she is their savior -- like the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) -- or want her beheaded -- like the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).
If you're seeking a little acid-like tale that's action and sensory-filled, "Alice in Wonderland" is for you. But if you're after more warmth and message, see "The Wizard of Oz" or "Up" again. Three Hearts.
Until next time, keep walking down the aisle ... Married to the Movies.
Lynn asks, Where's the emotional connection?
I ask: With a bandersnatch and jabberwocky and evaporating Cheshire cat, who wouldn't grow curiouser and curiouser?
Fact is, I feel completely at home in Burton's various worlds, magical places that bloom and slither apart from the boredom and falseness of the real world.
In "Alice," I was held by wonder and joy the entire time. I connected with the nonsensical sadness of the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the weary wisdom of Absalom the caterpillar (voiced by Alan Rickman), and the lonely wickedness of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).
Burton and screenwriter Linda Woolverton mix and match Lewis Carroll's works, and update Alice (Mia Wasikowska) to a 19-year-old about to be married to the snootiest lord ever to grace Britain's bloodlines. No wonder she chases a rabbit only she can see.
And what a trip it becomes, down the rabbit hole into Jefferson Airplane land. Wonderland is now Underland, no longer the fantasy of youth but a paradise lost to the Red Queen's lust for power, absent any love.
The whimsical remains, but a gloom casts a pall over the land as well, and the march hare, hatter, cat and mouse are discombobulated and bedraggled.
Can Alice restore her dream world? Anything beats that red-haired dweeb who just proposed to her in the real world. Four-and-a-half Hearts.
THE BETTER HALF -- I didn't find "Alice in Wonderland" quite as wonderful as The First Half. I'll admit the film is visually stunning, but to me it's lacking an important element in a fairy tale, which is heart.
Although I was never bored and completely interested in seeing where director Tim Burton would take us in his kaleidoscopic story of colors and frenzy, I was also rather disconnected.
It was as if my emotions were never fully utilized. Sure, I felt the usual Burton fright, but I laughed a little and never once came close to getting a lump in my throat.
What's a 19-year-old girl to do when a drippy aristocrat wants your hand in marriage and everyone is pressuring you to grow up and conform? If you're Alice (Mia Wasikowska), follow a white rabbit into the woods and fall down a hole for a little away time.
Underland, as it's called here, is quite the "Calgon, take me away" place. Alice encounters talking dogs, cats and flowers, a guru-like blue caterpillar and potions and cakes that can either make you shrink to fit into a teapot or grow 10 feet tall.
Alice also must deal with a strange group of misfits that either think she is their savior -- like the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) -- or want her beheaded -- like the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).
If you're seeking a little acid-like tale that's action and sensory-filled, "Alice in Wonderland" is for you. But if you're after more warmth and message, see "The Wizard of Oz" or "Up" again. Three Hearts.
Until next time, keep walking down the aisle ... Married to the Movies.
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