I was excited when I heard Tim Burton was making an Alice in Wonderland movie.  It feels like something that’s been that’s been sitting in the rumor mill for over a decade, just waiting to happen. Burton’s films have always had a sense of wonder about them, from the man-child road movie, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, to the more serious Big Fish, where a father and son bond through the power of imagination. Burton’s vision is surreal and expressionistic, producing just enough fantasy to make us acknowledge the smallest bits of real magic in our world. With that in mind, part of me likes the new Alice in Wonderland, and the other part is unsatisfied.
     The setup of the new Alice is similar to what Steven Spielberg did to Peter Pan back in 1991 with Hook. Like Peter, Alice (Mia Wasikowska, HBO’s In Treatment) has grown up since her first visit to Wonderland, dismissing the whole experience as a dream.  With the recent loss of her father, Alice faces the proposition of marrying an aristocratic dork for financial security and the dull life of a Victorian housewife. Alice flees her impending engagement down the rabbit hole into Underland (the apparent proper name of Wonderland), where she goes on another journey of self-discovery. Just as Peter had to remember how to fly, Alice has to relearn the rules of Wonderland and help its inhabitants defeat the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), whose fervor for decapitations has brought misery to the kingdom. The adventure in Wonderland takes us through candy-colored forests and castles that may be more cartoon-like than the majestic CG landscapes of Avatar (both films’ visual effects are by Robert Stromberg), but remain pleasingly whimsical. The Disney 3-D experience adds an extra oomph to the frequent scenes of Alice growing and shrinking, and makes the action scenes, like Alice sword fighting the Jabberwocky, more gratifying.
     Aside from the rich 3-D environments, what makes the film stand out from other versions of Alice is character development.  Burton has explained in interviews that he did not want to have a one-dimensional heroine, but the credit goes to screenwriter, Linda Woolverton, who co-wrote some of Disney’s most beloved films, including the award-winning Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Woolverton’s characters have some depth: Alice is not a plain little girl, but a tenacious young woman who is outspoken about her rights.  The Red Queen’s rage stems from her insecurity about her bulbous head, exacerbated by the eccentric perfection of her sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway, Valentine’s Day).
     However, not everything works well in the film. Johnny Depp (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) gets top billing as the Mad Hatter for no reason other than he’s Johnny Depp. Though he is a true pleasure to watch, with clown-like make-up and a Scottish brogue, it’s absurd, even for Wonderland, to think that some guy who makes hats and chugs tea with crazy people is going to lead an underground resistance. That’s not the character, but maybe that’s the joke.  What’s disappointing is Burton’s overall vision.  His earlier works (Edward Scissorhands, Batman) act like a black mirror to urban and suburban life, attacking conformity and the hidden shadows of modern times.  With the topsy-turvy world of Wonderland, I expected more of a social statement. However, for a family film, it’s entertaining escapism, and conveys positive values that can easily be absorbed by young minds. I just wonder what the film would be like if Burton made it fifteen years ago.