Alice in Wonderland

To begin with, I'll admit Alice in Wonderland is the one movie that I've been anticipating for this year and being a loyal fan to Tim Burton and his team of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, this review will appear to be a little bias. Buth then again, people has to admit that they do deserve all the recognitions they get so I'll try my best to make sure my take of this movie is a fair one.

Let's just say I love this movie, VERY VERY MUCH. I don't remember the last time enjoyed a movie they way I have enjoyed watching this one and since it was in 3D, it certainly was a feast to the eyes. I'll admit the visual would be no match to AVATAR (presumably since I only watch AVATAR 2D) but I still like it a lot better than AVATAR (told you I'm gonna be biased).

I know many have yet to watch it so I won't spoil it. Suffice to say that Alice is now 19 and she stumbled down the rabbit hole into the Underworld while running away from her own unprecedented engagement party. Upon arrival, she discovered that the Underworld is now chaotic under the ruling of animal-hater, self-centred Red Queen. The creatures in the Underworld urge Alice to help save their world by thwarting some big horrifying dragon the Red Queen uses to invoke fear in those creatures. Thus, Alice's journey starts to retrieve the sacred sword that would help her to be the champion of the White Queen to restore the rightful owner of the throne.

I'll admit that the storyline is very typical and offers nothing fresh. In fact, you'd probably be a little bored at the beginning since most of you will be familiar with the adventure yourself having read the book or watched the Disney animation. But the whole movie become a lot interesting and invigorating when Alice enters the castle of the Red Queen because this is when all the characters become alive while interacting with each other and it is these interactions are what made Alice in Wonderland so much better.

Mia Wasikowska did a great job playing a hesitant young Victorian girl who could not care less about Victorian rules and customs. Her character is essentially a mockery of traditional Victorian customs that prohibits young women to be intuitive, ambitious and outspoken. Typically, they were expected to simply marry themselves off their old parents to disgusting self-centred young men from some rich aristocrats to simply bear children for them. In her rite of passage, Alice has to find her own maturity, strength and conviction to prove that she can lead her own life and this is achieved as she struggles to accept her destiny as the saviour of the Underworld.

Nothing gives more pleasure, joy and contentment watching Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. Portrayed as the evil queen who resorts to cruelty and torture to rule the Underworld, Helena Bonham Carter's superb acting bring to life a crazy and self-centred woman who has to live with the fact that the creatures of the Underworld only fear her while they love her charming younger sister, the White Queen. Amidst all her crazy antics of using birds as golf sticks and pigs and monkeys as furnitures, she hides a tortured soul that has to succumb to the fact that 'it's much better to be feared than loved'.

Johnny Depp is just magnificent! He brings into life a totally different version of the Mad Hatter who's typically described as an idle hat maker with a penchant for tea. In this version, the Mad Hatter, to whom hats matter most, has lost his cheerful and merry attitude now that the Underworld is under the Red Queen. His close friendship with Alice comes from the fact that they are both eccentric and different from the others and he has to count on Alice to bring back the back the good old times in the Underworld. Depp's interaction with Carter is certainly one of the thing that I enjoy most for you have a combination of ecletic characteristics that makes me feel like watching Sweeney Todd again.

Other than that, Anne Hathaway does a fairly good job portraying the small role of the kind but eccentric White Queen. Matt Lucas as Tweedledum and Tweedledee is sooo cute and lovable. One thing that I don't like is how Alan Rickman's talent is not fully utilised. Playing the voice of Absolem the caterpillar who helps Alice discovers her true identity and regains her confidence, his facial expression is not incorporated on the character's face as was originally planned. I'm sure the character will be more real had they stuck to the plan.

Credits have to be given to Tim Burton for pushing the boundary of a plain childhood fantasy into an intellectual piece that will appeal to adults as well. The emotional exploration of each characters makes it easier for audiences to identify with those characters and helps them realise that not everything is hunky dory in Wonderland and that one has to be true and comfortable with his or her own identity wherever they go.

All in all, it is a great movie to watch. I don't think it's Oscar material but you can choose to enjoy yourself by taking the storyline and magnificent graphics at face value or dig a lil' deeper to learn something more. You might find yourself thinking about your own past experience being in a new 'Wonderland' with people with characteristics similar to the people or creatures of the Underland. 4/5 =)

P.S.: pay attention to the last scene where Alice is looking at a map while discussing her plan to visit Asia. The map shows Malaysia with 'MALACCA' written on it. I'm soooo thrilled by that =p!!!