Sidewalks On The Corner

The man behind “Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” returns with yet another exciting visual achievement. Welcome back to “Alice in Wonderland,” director Tim Burton-style.

Follow up:

ALICE IN WONDERLAND
(in Disney Digital 3D)
WALT DISNEY PICTURES
Website: Disney.com/wonderland
Rating: PG

Cast: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas and Mia Wasikowska as Alice

Voice Cast: Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Christopher Lee, Paul Whitehouse, Barbara Windsor

Director: Tim Burton

Studio Synopsis:
From Walt Disney Pictures and visionary director Tim Burton comes an epic 3D fantasy adventure ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a magical and imaginative twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time. JOHNNY DEPP stars as the Mad Hatter and MIA WASIKOWSKA as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror. The all-star cast also includes ANNE HATHAWAY, HELENA BONHAM CARTER and CRISPIN GLOVER. The screenplay is by Linda Woolverton.

Capturing the wonder of Lewis Carroll’s beloved “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865) and “Through the Looking-Glass” (1871) with stunning, avant-garde visuals and the most charismatic characters in literary history, ALICE IN WONDERLAND comes to the big screen in Disney Digital 3D™.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND
(L-R) Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway.
©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

J.P.'s Take:
“Alice in Wonderland” is a classic tale spun by the author Lewis Carroll, who bares the surreal imagination to dream up such a story, which makes Tim Burton the perfect candidate to harness that imagination and translate it to the big screen.

The new adventure serves as a sequel to Carroll's original works of fiction, which marks Alice’s (Mia Wasikowska) return to that wondrous land of make-believe thought only to be in her mind’s eye. At the tender age of 19 and capable of making her own life’s decisions, she reunites with past friends to face new uncertainties as an adult. Traveling back to that wondrous world she embarks on a fantastic journey in search of her true path in life.

Burton is a genius at concocting a new vision from the stories of two Carroll’s novels, “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through The Looking Glass,” and brings them to life. His pairing of 3D imagery and colorfully illustrated backdrops is well utilized without going overboard with an array of unnecessary flying objects coming at you. Burton is also a master at character development, for which he always seems to choose the right actors for the job.

Filling out the cast are Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover and Alan Rickman, who lends his voice to Absolem, the Caterpillar. Their performances of the characters the Mad Hatter, the enormously headstrong Red Queen, White Queen, Knave of Hearts, and the Blue Caterpillar, respectively, give this film its playful, childlike personality. Collectively, the entire cast musters up just the right amount of quirkiness to pour into the soup. The army of actors doesn’t stop there, from countless supportive members like Matt Lucas, who splits himself in half to play Tweedledee and Tweedledum, to Stephen Fry's sly wit as Cheshire Cat. All actors ushered the movie along its path of adventure, intrigue and surrealism.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND
(L-R) The Dodo,The Dormouse, Matt Lucas, The White Rabbit.
©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

For the purist, however, some may feel this visual feast might stifle the imagination the novels draw up in the minds of many readers. Well, if that’s the case, I feel the readers should peel their eyes away from all that black ink for a bit and revel in this marvel.

My thoughts are actually the opposite; I feel the special effects serve as a visual aid to further stir the imagination. I won’t drone over the symbolism abound surrounding this movie, because I feel the fans would have already figured that out over the years. In my opinion, the story was fresh and new, with a nice spin. Alice is far more mature these days, feisty as well. Having endured her trip to Wonderland once before, she, therefore, has emerged a much wisher, stronger, yet still just as vulnerable.

Out of the many versions that I have seen, whether they are cartoon or a TV movie, Burton has taken this film to a new level…which is why I consider him a master of fantasy.

“Alice in Wonderland” is a must see for the whole family, simply because it makes you feel like a kid again, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a fan of Burtom's work. With 3D added to the mix, this movie is really fun and almost interactive.

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J.P. Langston is a member of "Sidewalks Entertainment" team primarily as a videographer. He loves movies, especially sci-fi horror and action comedies. Some of his favorite films include "Blade Runner" "The Matrix Trilogy," The (original) "Star Wars," "Equilibrium," "Serenity," "Kill Bill Vols 1 and 2," "Appleseed," "Unbreakable" and "Sin City." He has a large DVD collection, which is still growing. Since reviewing films for "Sidewalks," he has been expanding his palette for all types of films.