Alice In Wonderland

Visual Treat!

It's only my second ever movie to see in 3D along with this years Avatar. Although Avatar was stunning to view in 3D, Alice in Wonderland is superior. It's not totally necessary to watch Avatar in 3D but Alice is impossible to view in 2D. Remove your 3D glasses for a moment and you'll see what i mean. I'm going to try not be biased here as I'm a massive Tim Burton fan.

I suppose you could call the movie a sequel to the original Alice in Wonderland as it takes place ten years after her 1st visit to Wonderland. Some of the sequences and characters are quite scary and some kids will definitely find it a bit creepy at times. Soon afer arriving in Wonderland via falling down a large hole chasing a rabbit, Alice learns that she is the chosen player/slayer for the good white queen, which is played very oddly and annoyingly effected by Anne Hathaway. It's up to Alice to carry out a death defying task in order to regain the good queens reign over Wonderland, currently ruled by her evil tyranical sister the Red Queen - played by the wonderful Helena Bonham Carter.

The movie is full of plusses besides the obvious ground breaking effects, the sound, the music.

Johnny Depp is his usual scene stealer and his Mad Hatter is full of Depp's perfected eccentricities. For me though, the real star of this movie is Bonham Carter's red queen. Hilariously over acted from a very under rated actress. She never received the plaudits she should have for her performance in Flight Club and due to the dark gothic nature of this movie I'm sure the same thing will happen with this role. It's such a shame as she is mesmerising whenever she appears on screen. The character of Alice is played very impressively by relative newcomer Mia Wasikowska. She's definitately one to watch out for in the future. The cast of animated animals are voiced by a predominantly British cast - Barbara Windsor, Timothy Spall, Michael Sheen to name but a few. Stephen Fry's Chester the cat is perfect.

I found the movie captivating and not in the slighest bit laboured. Burton rarely disappoints and it's definitely a return to form. There was however a very strange scene at the end of movie were Johnny Depp bursts into an an impromptu Michael Jacksonesque dance routine. It made no sense whatsover! Unlike the rest of the movie which was a visual and entertaining joy.

Score: 8/10