There was a time when a Tim Burton movie wasn’t defined solely by the number of twisted trees strewn about a gothic looking set. He was a unique storyteller with a penchant for the hauntingly peculiar and a talent for creating characters and fantasies left field of mainstream Hollywood.
His films embraced the outsider, and emotionally navigated us to look beyond image and archetypes to reveal the true horrors that we dared not admit. In Edward Scissorhands, the real monster is the paranoia of middle class suburbia and in Beetlejuice, the materialism and excess of ‘yuppy’ culture. Burton created visceral fables that took on the darker side of humanity but with charm and daring.
So it’s with much trepidation that I no longer hold faith in Burton as a storyteller, especially after the lifeless Alice In Wonderland, a reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s fantasy masterpiece. It is such a frustrating and bizarre experience (and not in a good way) that I wanted to scream ‘OFF WITH HIS HEAD’ when the credits rolled.
In Burton’s Wonderland Alice is now nineteen and about to be engaged to a particularly snotty nosed gentlemen. To avoid her rather public proposal she escapes back down the rabbit hole and re-enters the Wonderland she has dreamt about since she was six years old. There Alice battles to reclaim her ‘muchness’, as the Mad Hatter puts it, by becoming the challenger to end the tyrannical rule of the Queen of Hearts.
Critics are citing that the film is visually stunning but potently lacking in narrative flair. I agree with this, but even the visual aspects of the film lack the drama and spontaneity of Burton’s earlier work. Sure there are some moments of Burton’s genius, particularly one scene where a shrunken Alice uses the submerged heads of the Queens victims to cross the castle moat, and the sumptuous garden party scenes that bookend the movie. But it all feels a little generic considering his earlier creations. There are few surprises and an extremely disappointing climatic battle that had me seething at Disney for allowing another bastardisation of a literary classic. I still haven’t forgiven them for The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
With such acting pedigree as Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Stephen Fry bringing life to the 3D characters of Wonderland you are left feeling curious as to what went wrong. It’s only by the saving grace of Matt Lucas as Tweedle Dee/Tweedle Dum and Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen of Hearts (though she’s suspiciously similar to Miranda Richardson’s Queenie in Blackadder II) that the movie doesn’t fall flat on its face. Mia Wasikowska is engaging as Alice but is left with very little to emotionally contend with once she’s entered Wonderland. But surprisingly of all, Jonny Depp’s interpretation of the Mad Hatter is completely wide of the mark. Sporting a look that wouldn’t have been out of place on Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet Tour, his characterisation slips from wide eyed goofball to muttering Highland warrior. I thought the Mad Hatter was plain loony, not William Wallis in disguise!
As a 3D experience it lacks the awe of Avatar’s production values, Wonderland seems fairly insular when compared to the vastness of Pandora. And I doubt you’ll be making repeat visits down this rabbit hole.
I’m such a huge fan of Tim Burton’s work up until Sleepy Hollow that I almost feel guilty writing this review. I just feel that he’s fallen into the same CGI trap as Spielberg and Lucas. I’m hoping that he’ll return to more dynamic storytelling for his next film.
