Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Anne Hathaway, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Matt Lucas, Timothy Spall
Directed by: Tim Burton
Certificate: PG
Runtime: 108 mins
UK release date: 05 March 2010:
It's a classic favourite remade in full-blown 3D by dark and twisty Tim Burton. You can't go to watch this film without some prejudice or expectations. So, as a fun-fantasy adventure with cor-blimey special effects Alice in Wonderland is a really enjoyable film. But, this is a Tim Burton film. Some people hate Tim Burton and his style is stamped across the film like a Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter shaped tattoo. The other side of the coin is, for Tim Burton fans, it may actually be a little too tame on the kooky front.
In a return to Oz style story Alice (newcomer Mia Wasikowska) is older, wiser but somewhat confused by some troubling dreams she's been having. After following a rabbit in a waistcoat Alice falls into a very deep (and very computer-animated 3D) rabbit hole only to find herself once again in 'Underland'. This time round it's a darker place ruled by the Red Queen (a show-stealing Helena Bonham Carter) but now that Alice is back it's apparently her destiny, as decided by a Harry-Potter style moving map, to defeat the jabberwocky and by doing so restore the White Queen (a surprisingly kooky Anne Hathaway) to the throne. Along the way she gets a little help and hindrance from the likes of Tweedledee and Tweedledum (the brilliant Matt Lucas), The Cheshire Cat (a superbly laid back Stephen Fry) and of course the very twisted Mad Hatter (played Tim Burton's trusty sidekick Johnny Depp).
The casting is flawless and while people may roll their eyes at the Burton, Bonham-Carter and Depp trio the old phrase, if it ain't broke... is pretty apt. Depp, whose character is the darkest and most twisted of them all, is perfectly bonkers but vulnerable as the Mad Hatter while Helena Bonham-Carter is hilariously cruel with her spoilt brat take on the Red Queen. While the 3D and CGI can be stunning, occasionally it's a little too obvious, which with such incredible advances in technology now, shouldn't really be the case. Warts and all though we enjoyed it a lot and as one of Burton's more child-friendly films this is a film the whole family can whole-heartedly enjoy.
