Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

7/10

Starring

Johnny Depp

Anne Hathaway

Helena Bonham Carter

Crispin Glover

Matt Lucas

Mia Wasikowska

Directed by Tim Burton

If you give Disney’s 2010 masterpiece a second viewing like I did, you’ll come to admire the powerful depiction, the dark sentiments, and the wonderful twist they brought along to make this movie very tasteful. All this dark gothic theme is what you’d expect from a Tim Burton film, and he outdid himself in this movie, making it so good that even the 1951 Alice in Wonderland animation pales in comparison. It’s little wonder that this movie was a box-office sensation, and it was that success that made Disney invest in a second movie, Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), which ended up being a box-office loss and nowhere near as good as this masterpiece.

There’s much diversion from the story of Alice you’ll recall from the 1951 Alice in Wonderland animation, also done by Disney. The movie’s plot serves more like a sequel to the animation and is based on Lewis Carroll’s stories of Alice taking on the Jabberwocky. Also, the plot will help you see why the second part of the movie is horrible, as obvious plot holes and lack of continuity exist between the stories—most noticeably with the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).

Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is trying to avoid following the expected path laid ahead of her, which leads her to run off. She sees and chases a rabbit wearing a blue waistcoat and accidentally tumbles right into a large rabbit hole under a tree. She then lands in a strange room and has to take a potion to shrink herself and go through a door to emerge in a forest. There, she’s greeted by the White Rabbit, the Dormouse, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and others. Seeing her, they start to argue whether Alice is “the right Alice.” They continue the debate and are chased by the Red Queen’s minions. Alice is told she’s here in Underland to save them from the Red Queen, while she believes she’s dreaming and can’t wait to wake up.

Now, we’re left to watch as she battles with the thought herself and moves along with events.

It was the success of this movie that led Disney to further develop more live-action adaptations of their Animated Classics. Disney has gone on to produce box-office successes like Maleficent (2014), Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), and Beauty and the Beast (2017), with more of their animated series set to be adapted soon.

The movie’s actors were in a class of their own, with Johnny Depp pulling off a fantastic performance as expected. It’s a pity the second movie didn’t deliver like the first. A standout memorable performance was delivered by Mia Wasikowska, and you’ll always enjoy this movie for the fantastic performances and visual mastery it delivers.