Alice has fallen down the rabbit hole once again, but not everything is exactly as before. In Disney's new take on the children's story "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865) and "Through the Looking−Glass, and What Alice Found There" (1871), director Tim Burton transports a now 19−year−old Alice to Underland — a darker, stranger version of Wonderland. Lewis Carroll's classic novels practically beg for an interpretation by Burton, who delivers it in his signature style. His imagining of a young girl's coming of age is delightfully weird and visually stunning. He pays his respects to film adaptations that came before, while adding an interesting new chapter to the now−145−year−old tale.
Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is an easily likeable female lead. And while the film will inevitably find a home with angsty teenagers, Alice is decidedly not one of them. She is plucky without being insolent and perceptive without being touchy. As she meanders from one mad scenario into the next, she maintains her calm and discovers her sense of self.
Burton distinguishes Alice by making her uncomfortable in her own society. The movie opens with her receiving a horribly awkward and clearly unwelcome marriage proposal in front of an absurd−looking Victorian crowd. Alice arrives at what she learns is her own engagement party and is quickly battered with one ridiculous piece of advice after another from her tightly wound, corseted relatives. In a way, it seems altogether logical that Alice should excuse herself from the scene of a wedding proposal to follow the white rabbit into the woods after the morning she's had.
While Burton maintains the integrity of the characters, he takes some creative liberties with the story. Caroll's original plot often got caught up in word games and logic puzzles, which was the source of a certain charm. Burton's re−imagining of the story is purposefully driven: Alice has returned after 10 years to Underland where it is foretold that she will slay the Red Queen's (Helena Bonham Carter) dragon−like Jabberwocky and restore the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to power.
"Alice" purists may cry foul as the plot is twisted and molded to fit the expectations of action−hungry audiences, but Burton pays homage to the original in a deftly employed flashback sequence to Alice's first visit 10 years prior.
The plot is, at first, a bit murky and unfocused. The audience is occasionally offered a crumb of back story that isn't fully developed or an explanation that doesn't quite make sense. It is somewhat frustrating to be thrown into such a visually vivid world without an equally vivid explanation of what exactly is going on. But the pieces slowly fall into place, and it becomes apparent what Alice is doing in Underland, who is on her side and who isn't. Some characters warrant a bit more development than they're given, but that's largely a function of the fast−paced plot, which steadily gains momentum as it becomes more enthralling.
Johnny Depp is, as expected, brilliant as the Mad Hatter. With his first appearance, it is easy to worry that he might just be Captain Jack Sparrow with a clown wig, but the Hatter is delightfully mad in his own right. He suffers from wild mood swings and an uncontrollable tongue; he is often caught up in a whirlwind of words as his crazy ideas overtake him. Depp employs adept restraint, and the Hatter becomes more than the one−dimensional archetype of previous versions of "Alice." He has a history, and he places his hope with Alice to restore the life he once had.
That history includes the Queens, both Red and White, who are interesting characters in their own right, though not as nuanced as the Hatter. Bonham Carter is at the height of her usual insanity. The Red Queen is a loose cannon, offing heads with reckless abandon. She is needy, vain and impossible to please. She's the perfect foil to the White Queen, an airy pacifist with a few personality tics of her own. The Red Queen is a scene−stealer, her acerbic wit pouring from her overlarge head.
Children might be frightened and purists might be miffed by this surrealist take on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." But most everyone can find something or someone to like in Underland. It is a place populated by interesting creatures and many "Harry Potter" alumni (Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Imelda Staunton, to name a few) who are good for a laugh and some excitement. Taken with a grain of salt — and a willingness to let Burton do his thing — "Alice in Wonderland" is a reminder of the wonderful, impossible things in the world.
