The 1951 animated version of Alice’s story is far from the top of my list of favorite Disney films from my childhood, but that does not keep me from being overly disappointed in the additional trip down the rabbit hole in this year’s Alice in Wonderland.

13 years following young Alice’s nightmare riddled nights of a mysterious world with crazy talking creatures, Alice finds herself all grown up and in the midst of an engagement party celebrating the proposal that has yet to occur.  When the question is finally popped Alice decides to avoid responding and exercise her affinity for chasing clothed rabbits down really deep holes.  When she eventually makes it into Wonderland a welcoming party of a few familiar faces greets her and we learn that the run in with the rabbit in the real world was a planned occurrence on his part.  Apparently since the last time Alice was there things have taken a turn for the worse and the inhabitants have been searching for the right Alice to fulfill the prophesy of bringing an end to the Red Queen’s reign of terror.  Unfortunately for them Alice is less that enthusiastic about filling those big shoes.

The design work used to create Wonderland is definitely the highlight of the film for me, with a lot of beautifully constructed costumes and amazing CGI environments and creatures (including the Cheshire Cat, Jabberwocky, and both the red and white armies) filling out the world.  Unfortunately the story is not one to match the scale of the world.  The majority of the film is actually a revisiting of places Alice came across in the animated film, such as the room with the “drink me” bottle to enter Wonderland and the tea party with the Mad Hatter.  Though this set up plays into a memory sequence later in the film, it just seems like a bunch of uninspired allusions to the prior film as they play out on the screen.  What’s worse is that the time taken going through these familiar scenes overshadows Alice’s mission in this film, which fails to build as the film progresses.  Instead she just spends the majority of the film going through the motions as she prattles on about wanting to wake up from this dream with a chorus of “but you are our champion!” being spouted from the citizens of Wonderland, who are just hoping she will decide to slay the Red Queen’s dragon for them no matter how unenthusiastic she seems about the whole idea.  Once the ending finally does comes around it just seems rushed and tacked on, and continues to get worse as the credits get closer.

The characters of the film go the same way as the story, with acting that could have been much better from the talent collected.  Mia Wasikowska could have been much stronger as Alice instead of just sticking to her “I don’t want to be here” range of expressions and line readings, but I do feel like she has the potential to do much better with a stronger role.  Anne Hathaway is fine as the White Queen, amusingly playing up the upper crustiness in how she carries herself (which you will either find annoying or amusing.  I fell into the latter group, but I love Hathaway).  The actor who does the best in their role is Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, who shines in the moments when she is given more to do than just shout “off with their heads!”  Unfortunately, Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter is actually a weaker part of the film.  For starters, his character is far too difficult to understand.  He may be insane and should therefore be anything but cut and dry, but usually there is some mind to the madness.  Here it just seems as if Depp was given so much freedom with his interpretation of the character that he never actually finds it.  Furthermore, the spotlight he is given is just not warranted in the end because it pulls focus from Alice, who I am assuming this film is actually supposed to be about.  I mean, her name is in the title and everything…

On the whole I am a big fan of Tim Burton’s films, but unfortunately Alice in Wonderland is not something I can add to the list of his movies that I love.  Overall the design elements may create a really pretty world, but the substance just isn’t there.  And though it may have some of the craziness of the 1951 animated film, it fails to come together in its attempt to become something more than just a trip through madness.

Final Grade: D

Tim Burton’s latest collaboration with Johnny Depp is a gigantic, uninspired, and boring mess of an adaptation of the Alice in Wonderland mythology.

The story is a sequel to Disney’s previous animated version of Alice in Wonderland and picks up some years later with Alice, now nineteen, about to be married off to the son of an old family friend that is very well to do but Alice is still haunted? By reoccurring “dreams” of her trip to Wonderland as a child.  When the young man proposes to her in front of a giant crowd at a prearranged engagement party, Alice gets cold feat and runs off into the garden, chasing the white rabbit, and down into a rabbit hole and back into the world of Wonderland.  The look of the place has changed significantly and we discover from a few familiar faces that there is a long standing search for Alice and they aren’t quite sure if this Alice is the real one.  The prophecy is that Alice will return to Wonderland to rid it of the tyrant Red Queen and restore peace to the once jovial nation.

Now, I have a lot of problems with this film, but first and foremost I just didn’t find it at all that engaging or entertaining.  When the film isn’t seemingly just walking down memory lane of Wonderland, and it does a lot of this for the first hour, the story they try to concoct is so unoriginal and uninspired it just never grabs you.  The plot also has countless gapping holes in it, just ignores logic, and makes no sense on a number of occasions.  From the desperate attempt to give the Mad Hater some depth to his character, the complete surface depth of the evil characters, the use of CGI for Crispin Glover’s body, and the fact that nobody in Wonderland seems to like the Red Queen yet she is some how in power, these are just the tipping point of problems I have without spoiling things.

Possibly my biggest issue with the film is Alice’s demeanor and logic on her being in Wonderland.  She is convinced this experience is a dream, even though her old method of waking up from one doesn’t work.  Also, she doesn’t seem to remember or recognize Wonderland, how is this possible?  It doesn’t look all that different and she has previously told us that she is still having “dreams” about her first trip to Wonderland so why is everything so foreign to her?  It takes 95% of the movie to unfold before she starts to finally come to this realization and I don’t know if she ever acknowledges that she really had been here before, but more or less just bought into the laid out prophecy.

Burton given this endless world of imagination brings next to nothing new to table and the film is creatively dry if you ask me.  The moments that work in the film are re-hashes of the animated film, Cheshire Cat and the Blue Caterpillar are a pair of the very few highlights, and I just didn’t find the world incredibly rich or wondrous.  Also of note, the use of 3-D is just as uninspired and pointless and not necessary for the viewing enjoyment of the picture.  Avatar has spoiled us and I think a lot of the 3-D pictures this year will come across as a disappointment in that element as most directors are still trying to figure out how to use the medium.  The CGI in the picture, especially for one that cost two hundred million dollars, was also not that impressive stylistically or consistently.  There are a number of shots in the picture that do look gangbusters, don’t get me wrong, but for every winner there are two shots that look a little too eh.  Danny Elfman’s score is even an uninspired and unnoticeable element to the film.

The acting work in the film is also nothing to write home about and none of the on screen actors do anything special for the entirety of the picture.  Helena Bonham Carter is the highlight as the Red Queen but her part gets stale and repetitive in a hurry.  Johnny Depp’s interpretation of the Mad Hatter is bad weird and never really worked for me as he tried to give him a dark side, or something, on the inside.  The kookiness of the character never charms or is all that funny and it is probably one of the worst turns of the gifted actor’s careers.  Mia Wasikowska stars as Alice and she is unfortunately really flat and has no pep what so ever in the picture.  She dully delivers her lines and doesn’t have the cheery aloofness Alice has in the animated classic, Wasikowska does come a bit alive in the third act.  Anne Hathaway needs to put her hands down, Crispin Glover does alright and kind of weird work, but most of the voice actors do solid jobs in their roles.  Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat and Alan Rickman as Blue Caterpillar are the highlights of the voice actors, and the voice casting was one of the few things Burton got right.

In the end, Alice in Wonderland is nothing but a big mess.  Where the original film was a crazy and tripped out adventure through this mysterious and wondrous world, Burton and company try and give this iteration a plot that is stale, uninspired, and unoriginal that leaves us scratching our heads.  Beyond being unoriginal the film doesn’t really flow very well, idling with nothing much happening for the majority of the picture, and then tries to patch together a plot that makes no sense with gaping plot holes to get us to the finale.  The acting is weak, the direction uninspired, effects that are dull, and 3D that is pointless and misused there is nothing to really recommend about this picture.  A front runner for biggest flop of the year due to the talent involved, there are at least a couple characters and scenes worth checking out but this is a rental at best and the worst Burton and Depp film to date by a wide margin.

Alice and Wonderland is a F

Alice in Wonderland Trailer – Well it’s not quite what I expected, but that should be expected from Tim Burton. Check it out here.

Iron Man 2 Trailer – So what happens when a superhero reveals himself to the world? Check it out here.

Robin Hood Trailer – He may not be an animated fox, but Russell Crowe being angry and violent is hardly anything to scoff at (especially considering he is back with his Gladiator director, Ridley Scott, for this). Check it out here.

Mass Effect 2 Blur Trailer – Check out this sneak peak of a full-length version being released tomorrow on XBOX Live. Check it out here.

Shane Acker’s feature length debut is a bit of a half baked idea paired with astonishing visuals that in the end overcomes most of its short comings with its imagination and originality.
9 awakens in a world destroyed by war and immediately is thrown into an adventure to not only save a new friend, but to discover the world and what happened to it. 9 himself is a sack like creature (think Little Big Planet without as big a head) and he quickly discovers that he is not the only one of his kind milling about. The human race is all but gone, as a war with machines has decimated both their world and the species, and all that we are aware of being left is a group of frightened and reclusive sack creatures numbered from 1-9. The remaining group quickly tries to convince 9 to hide with them and not try and do anything heroic after the loss of the fourth member of their group to a monstrous machine that prowls the city. But 9 won’t have it and is able to sway 5 to head after 2 and the adventure soon becomes even bigger than they thought possible as a new threat arises from their search.
Now the whole idea of machines destroying the world and what have you I understand is a bit tired, but it is not the focal point and is more a catalyst for the story and the confrontations of the film. Above this idea lies an interesting and unique story about these little creatures that are enlightened by 9’s appearance and his gung ho attitude to see what is out there. Though a couple things might make you go wait a minute? 9’s motivations come out of no where and he seems to be acting just because the film needs him too as the hero. Now the origins of these creatures might help you rationalize why he is the way he is, but it doesn’t quite make sense and isn’t adequately explained. In fact, the end game of the picture leaves you scratching your head quite a bit as it is a touching end but doesn’t quite make a lot of sense again as they leave things to open.
But like I mentioned in the intro, the film mostly overcomes these confusing bits with incredible visuals and elaborate set pieces that will distract you from any of the awkward story stuff. The action scenes come quick and are beautifully executed with everyone playing a part that is involved in each respective scene. The battles are also just epic in proportions, taking place all over the sets and causing loads of destruction and drama for the characters in their peril. In fact, one thing that this film has going for it is its ability to establish anyone can go at any moment as a number of the characters will fall before it is all said and done. In particular, the attack by the winged creation on the characters is one of the finer action sequences of the year and was the stand out scene in the film. 3 and 4 are also extremely well done and are creative characters and will probably become your favorite of the 9 the instant they show up.
The voice work in the film is also very adequate with John C Reilly as 5 and Elijah Wood as 9 getting the most time in the picture. Wood brings confidence and go for it attitude to 9 but is more or less the same character from Happy Feet here. Reilly on the other hand creates this torn and vulnerable character that slowly emerges from his shell and is really the stand out in the picture. Crispin Glover as 6 also does some nice work, though he is delegated to the background most of the time.
In the end, 9 is a wonderful looking animated film that has a unique vision that doesn’t quite execute to its fullest. Be prepared to wonder why everyone is acting the way they are and hopefully you can make some sense of the explanation and ending as I don’t think it works 100%. But at a tight run time and a quick pace the film moves right along with some awesome action scenes grounded with wonderful production values and some great animation that will make the film more than enjoyable. One just can’t help but wonder what this could have been if they had worked out all of the head scratching plot details and made a more cohesive story. Oh well, its still worth your time.
9 is a B-

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp re-team for their 6th film together, and is my favorite Burton film since Big Fish, and is probably right there with Big Fish for his second best film behind Ed Wood.
The film is an adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name and is a full blown musical, so you idiots that won’t give a movie a shot just because there is singing, just go ahead and save yourself the time of reading any further. (I find it funny that a lot of people that grew up on and loved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder, say they can’t even watch musicals or grown at the mention of one.)
The story goes like this, Sweeney Todd(Depp) roles into London some years after being arrested and thrown out by a conniving Judge who wants to steal Todd’s, then Benjamin Barker, wife. He returns brooding on revenge and seeks to hunt down the man who took his life away. He returns to his past barber shop and home above Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pie Shop where Lovett(the always great Helena Bonham Carter) is still cooking “The Worst Pies in London’ and tells him that his wife is gone.
One of Todd’s shipmates is a teenage boy named Anthony Hope (Jamie Bower) and he has the anti-emotions to Todd about returning to London. He stumbles upon the rich district to find a beautiful girl perched in a window, Johanna (Jayne Wisener), singing about being trapped. We quickly find she is on lock down under the control of, Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who put Barker/Todd away, and his accomplice Beadle (Timothy Spall). The two kids sing a love song to each other and Hope gets a warning from Turpin to stay away from Johanna.
The movie sets up the main players with the first few songs and is a slow build up, but isn’t at all boring, and really gets going with the appearance of Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli a competitor Barber. Soon after Pirelli’s arrival Todd’s blood lust begins to boil over beyond containment and boy does the blood flow. I won’t go any further into the plot, but be warned; there will be buckets of blood by the end of the film.
As for the songs, singing, and acting Depp is great as usual and makes the most out of a pretty one dimensional character and is a fairly good singer as well. Carter is fantastic as Mrs. Lovett and steals a lot of the scenes she is in. She is also the best singer of the bunch and has the best, or is at least involved in, of the songs. All of the young actors have great voices with Wisener and Bower showing off their skill. I will give special mention to Ed Sanders who is the youngest of all the actors and is great as the assistant to Pirelli and has a wonderful singing voice. Cohen is hilarious as usual as the Italian barber, and does a good job singing as well.
The movie looks great, the CGI London backdrops might rub some people the wrong way, but I think the look is of Burton’s intention. I’ve already mentioned the grisliness and the gore and the movie is not for the squeamish, but you should still bare it if you are at all interested in the movie. There isn’t really any dance numbers like many Broadway shows but that doesn’t take away from this being one of the better musicals to be released since the revival of the genre with Moulin Rouge!. Now this movie isn’t as good as the fore mentioned Rouge, or Chicago, but I think it fits in as my third favorite of this new era for musicals.
If you are a fan of Burton and Depp this is a must see same for any fans of Broadway or musicals. The movie works most of the time and is never boring, just slows down once or twice. The darker fare might keep some away but they would be missing out on one the most entertaining films of the year.
B+

I’ll keep this one short. The Tim Burton produced stop-motion animated musical is a classic and one of the best of it’s kind. Jack Skelington tries to convince Halloweentown to throw Christmas instead of Halloween so Jack can feel something new in his life. I view this as a Christmas movie, but people celebrate this film just as much at Halloween, Disney decided to do the same. For three weeks you can catch this one in Disney 3-D at your local cinema and if you are a fan it should not be missed; but that doesn’t mean the 3-D is anything special. Most fans of this movie never saw it on a big screen, and seeing it on the big screen is a great opportunity, the 3-D is an added bonus that pays off few and fair between of the running time. The 3-D work pails in comparison to the Order of the Phoenix and Meet the Robinson’s, but it does give a bit of depth to the picture, and it seems like you are looking at the set directly and not caught on film most of the time, and maybe that’s all they were going for, but in the end I was a bit disappointed with the shtick. Let’s hope Beowulf looks better next month.
See it if you are a fan or have always wanted too, just to experience on the big screen with a couple of cool tricks.

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Now playing: Damien Rice – The Blower’s Daughter
via FoxyTunes