One of the great things about my birthday being in this month is that there are always great movies coming out right around it, first it was Watchmen (awesome) and this year Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I went and saw it yesterday and I was not disappointed (unlike Spider-man 3).
Now for those who do not know, this is not based off of Disney's cartoon version. It is an extension of the Lewis Carroll novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Burton said the original Wonderland story was always about a girl wandering around from one character to another and he never felt a connection emotionally, so he wanted to make it feel more like a story than a series of events. This was brillent! The story kept me intrigued through out the movie and there were moments of humor where I was just laughing my @$$ off.
One of the things I had heard people say prior to the movie coming out was that they hoped that Depps Mad Hatter wouldn't become the center character. In the books the Mad Hatter played a very small part, and thank God Burton stayed true to that. Depp played a superb Mad Hatter (loved the futterwacken dance at the end too). Another character I thought was great was Stephen Fry as Chessur, the Cheshire Cat.
Small part, but definitely a scene stealer (in a good way). I also thought that Mia Wasikowska as Alice was a very good choice. She played the part great and was not a ridiculous mess. Another surprinsingly good performance was Anne Hathaway.
I had just seen her in Valentines day and thought she was good in that, and once again she didn't disappoint.
I should also mention the last fight scene. You may think to yourself, "I can not imagine a good fight scene coming out of a movie called 'Alice in Wonderland', even if Captain Jack Sparrow is in it". Well think again! I won't give away to many spoilers here, but the way Burton filmed the final fight with the Jabberwocky I thought was awesome, not a girly fight at all.
I do have to say that ultimately, it's the visual landscape that makes Alice's newest adventure so wondrous. The new technology has absolutely been great, and I think Tim Burton can finally let loose his endlessly fertile imagination. All in all a great A for me. Cage out