ХРЮ!

I am a huge fan of the Alice books. Which is why I was a bit sceptical when I first heard about the movie. But then I found out that it was to be made by Tim Burton and thought - well, if there is a person who can make it work, this is Tim Burton. With the help of Johnny Depp of course. The trailer seemed to be almost perfect, in that it seemed as wonderfully mad the books are. So, I was very much looking forward to the movie. And, of course, I was disappointed...

Well, as a movie it was alright but it was not an *Alice* movie. It was a standard Hollywood movie, which exploited the world, or rather its name, created by Carroll. The plot was... well, I understand you wanted to get away from the original plot. Fine. But making this into an action movie? Killing Jabberwocky? Completely unneccessary and, really, a step too far. Can't you really make a movie without fights and murders??? Waldemar actually liked the movie and when I complained this had nothing to do with the original characters, he said "come on, you don't want to see another Alice movie - there are so many of those around!" Well, that's exactly what my problem was - I did want to see an Alice movie; the spirit of Alice was actually the only reason I wanted to see it! Nowadays when I am old an cynical, when I go to a cinema, I expect more of it than a bunch of special effects. Which is why I didn't enjoy Avatar - as a computer animation it was excellent, yes (or so they say; I still think it would've been just as impressive in 2D) but there was nothing more to it. No plot, no acting. Not even funny oneliners! Yes, okay, Alice was much better in terms of acting, but it didn't have the right spirit. Wonderland is a mad world, but it doesn't mean that any mad world is Wonderland! (I've already said something similar about Dissocia) Spirit, atmosphere, text... that's what makes the books so wonderful. There was almost none of this in the movie (even though there was a lot in the trailer!). Depp's dance in the end? I found it really out of place.

Okay, the movie wasn't too bad, and it had some great elements even by my standards. The Cheshire Cat was superb (although they could've inserted more smile-without-a-cat moments!). The Red Queen (Helena Bohnam Carter) played wonderfully; I also enjoyed the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), both her acting and her text. Johnny Depp was... good I suppose (he always is :) but as his character did not always appeal to me, I wasn't particularly impressed. Alice herself was very non-convincing though.

All in all, a dissappointment for an Alice fan, although if you are not expecting much and are just looking for a bit of entertainment, you might enjoy it. I can't say whether it's worth watching it in 3D as we watched it in 2D and I don't care much about special effects. But it had some pretty pictures :)