Alice in Wonderland (2010) Review

Time: 108 Minutes
Age Rating: Frightening fantasy scenes and violence
Cast:
Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter
Anne Hathaway as The White Queen
Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen
Crispin Glover as Stayne – Knave of Hearts
Matt Lucas as Tweedledee/Tweedledum
Mia Wasikowska as Alice Kingsleigh
Alan Rickman as Blue Caterpillar (voice)
Stephen Fry as Cheshire Cat (voice)
Michael Sheen as White Rabbit (voice)
Timothy Spall as Bayard (voice)
Director: Tim Burton

A young girl when she first visited magical Wonderland, Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) is now a teenager with no memory of the place — except in her dreams. Her life takes a turn for the unexpected when, at a garden party for her fiancé and herself, she spots a certain white rabbit and tumbles down a hole after him. Reunited with her friends the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Cheshire Cat and others, Alice learns it is her destiny to end the Red Queen’s (Helena Bonham Carter) reign of terror.

Tim Burton nowadays can be hit or miss with hits with Sweeney Todd and misses with Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. When it comes to his take on Alice in Wonderland, people are divided but the movie did make a lot of money so obviously a lot of people liked it. However in my opinion, Alice in Wonderland is a miss and it might be his worst work yet. I haven’t read the book or seen any of the previous interpretations but yet I found this movie a bad adaptation. It tries to be this big grand war movie when it didn’t need to be. It’s so strange how this movie turned out, considering the fact that Tim Burton is a perfect choice to direct an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. But whatever the case, I felt that this movie was a huge let down and a terrible version of the classic story.

It should be noted that this movie isn’t even an adaptation of the original Alice in Wonderland story because this isn’t the first time Alice has been to Wonderland. Later you find out that this place isn’t even called Wonderland, it’s called Underland. So the movie is more Grown Up Alice Returns to Underland than Alice in Wonderland. This movie also seemed to miss the point of Alice in Wonderland. There is some made up prophecy story forced into this movie and it also tries to make a war movie out of Alice in Wonderland. Because of this there are so many plot holes, like there’s a scene where Alice uses the enlarging cake to grow bigger, couldn’t they just make more of that cake and use it to win the war? Also despite this movie being PG, there are some pretty dark things that happen in the movie, so this film also doesn’t know what age they are working towards.

Mia Wasikowska plays Alice and she is extremely bland and boring in this movie. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure she’s a great actress, I just think it was the direction and writing that let her down. She barely looks interested or distressed by all the events happening all around her. Johnny Depp is playing typical Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter is playing typical Helena Bonham Carter. They aren’t bad but they aren’t anything special either, same can be said for the other characters.

I will say the one good thing about this movie is that at times the style does show Wonderland off quite well. The designs for all the characters are perfect, take the Cheshire cat for instance. Tim Burton and Alice in Wonderland were a perfect pair for each other and although the rest of the movie isn’t good, at least everything looks great, even though there is quite a lot of CGI used.

Alice in Wonderland was so popular that this year we’ll be getting a sequel. Do I think it’s possible for it to be good? Anything is possible but it’s unlikely. This film did have some good designs and some potential with Burton’s involvement, however the writing completely lets the story down by being bigger and more serious than it should. I think this is my least favourite Tim Burton movie so far. I know that Burton isn’t directing the sequel but I’m still not looking forward to it. Then again Alice in Wonderland is not a very tough act to follow, so it might at least be better.

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Back to the Future (1985)

Time: 116 Minutes
Age Rating: Violence
Cast:
Michael J. Fox as Marty Mcfly
Christopher Lloyd as Dr Emmett Brown
Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines
Crispin Glover as George Mcfly
Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen
Director: Robert Zemeckis

Marty Mcfly (Michael J. Fox), a high-schooler helps his friend Dr Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) with a time machine built into a Delorean. Because of unfortunate circumstances, Marty is taken from 1985 to 1955 and is stuck there. He must find the doc and find a way for him to go back to the present while making sure that his parents fall in love after accidently interrupting an important meeting between the two.

If I had to describe what watching this movie is like, I’d say that it is absolutely fun to watch; it has moments that are funny, entertaining and takes you on a wild ride and is a movie that everyone can enjoy. The movie has definitely aged well, despite it being released nearly 30 years ago; it is still a very enjoyable movie and a timeless classic.

The script is nearly flawless. Despite the fact that time travel movies aren’t very original, it’s the execution that makes it so great; I think the thing that makes this film stand out from other time travel movies is the fact that they go back in time instead of going forward to the future, which is what most time travel movies did. The dialogue between people is entertaining and quotable. There are some plot holes in the movie but I didn’t really mind them that much, I was already having fun with the movie. The film is also quite clever by linking some events in the 50s (the time period that Marty went back to) and the 80s (where he came from), as well as showing how much has changed in 30 years.

This movie has really entertaining and memorable performances, especially by Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd; both actors play their roles very well and are very likable. Another performance that is great was by Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen, a bully. He was very entertaining and one of the best characters that you love to hate. All the other actors like Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover were also really good in their roles. The actors also share excellent chemistry with each other, especially Fox and Lloyd who share entertaining moments together as they are desperately trying to solve Fox’s character’s problem.

The special effects are mostly kept to a minimum; most of them are used with the Delorean and are really good. It is also mostly used near the end of the movie, and the way they were used has made the final act of the movie very satisfying. The soundtrack is also really great and really added a lot to the movie. Alan Silvestri composed the score for the movie and it is absolutely mind-blowing; the main theme of the composed score is particularly one of the best movie themes, it gives off such an epic and adventurous vibe. The soundtrack also had good pre-existing songs as well, with songs from people like Huey Lewis and the News, Lindsey Buckingham and Eric Clapton. Those songs added some feeling to the time periods that the characters were in as well as setting the mood of the movie.

Back to the Future is a timeless classic that deserves to be seen by anyone, movie buff or not. With the masterful script, memorable characters and constant fun, this movie never grows old. The film also has two sequels and I don’t know what movie I prefer, however in whatever case, Back to the Future came first and made such an impact on film. It is a magical adventure and is a film that everyone should at least watch once.