Alice in Wonderland 3D

If you've read my previous post about Tim Burton, you should know my feelings about his films (at least as of late). Alice in Wonderland is no different; it's exactly what you would expect from Burton: misunderstood protagonist? Check. Creepy, strange setting? Check. Creepy, strange characters? Check. Danny Elfman, Johnny Depp and the wifey, Helena Bonham Carter? Check, check and check. This is fine for some, maybe even good news, but personally, it just makes me roll my eyes.


Other than that, there's not much to complain about really, especially from the acting department. Mia Wasikowska made for a fine Alice, and of course Depp's performance was great, as strange as it was. Alan Rickman's casting as the caterpillar was also ingenious. However, the animated characters are a different story; every single one seemed to have a way of annoying me, whether it was their annoying voice (Dormouse), hideousness (Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the fatty twins), or their habits (March Hare, the rabbit with down syndrome). Burton found a way to make me want to punch adorable animals in the face. I believe Burton also has a weakness with action sequences; he doesn't really know how to engage the audience into it, to make them sit on the edge of their seat. I know this because the big, epic battle at the end was extremely boring and predictable; I don't think anyone even died in it besides the dragon and an extremely annoying bird. It gets very tiring that films are still trying to match the battles from The Lord of the Rings, which has set the bar seemingly to unreachable heights. It's also very difficult to take a movie seriously that contains a scene where a frog in a tacky red waistcoat is dragged to prison for drinking the Queen's berry punch. The animation was fine, but not spectacular. As for the 3D, the only times it felt necessary or beneficial to the experience was when the Cheshire Cat appeared (or disappeared), which wasn't very often. Even the 120-second trailer for The Legend of the Guardians shown before the film seemed to make better use of the technology than the 90 minute film did. Chessur seemed to be the animated character that that both impressed me, and didn't irritate me at the same time. Mr. Burton, try something new next time. Take a chance. Please? Pretty please?