Comments on: Alice in Underland?

By: Kristi O.

Kristi O. — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:54:36 +0000

I think that Alice in Wonderland is just one of those movies doomed to have divided opinions. As I said, I detested it, but my friend who I saw the movie with loved it. The movie doesn’t really stand on it’s own, so its degree of how good or how bad it is is dependant on the personality of the person who sees it.

As for the Cheshire Cat, I spent too much time questioning the shape of his skull to really enjoy his performance. Same goes for a few other characters actually, I spent far too much time questioning their design or personality to just let the movie sink in.

But yeah, I can see how this movie would get an “Okay” rating. As I said, a few interesting bits, but not at all what I would call a good movie.

By: Jake Forbes

Jake Forbes — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:27:15 +0000

Kristi,
I’ll be honest — my “really liked” in regards to this movie is more of a “yes, it’s true, I enjoyed it” than a real endorsement. I must have caught it on a good day, but I could have just as easily come away feeling the way you did. As eye candy and a few funny bits, it entertained me, but in a shallow way. Maybe it was Stephen Fry’s Cheshire cat that soothed me into a moderate “thumbs up.”

By: Kristi O.

Kristi O. — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 21:19:52 +0000

I will refrain from going into a big rant, but I honestly detested this movie. There were a few moments that weren’t too bad, but over all I thought it was a rather bland story, full of uninteresting characters, and focused way too much on trying to be eye candy that altogether made me feel like I had wasted an afternoon going to see it.

By: Emma

Emma — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:38:32 +0000

I liked the animation. I wanted to cuddle the Cheshire Cat, he looked so soft, and the Jabberwocky was impressive.

In general, it was OK. The only thing that really annoyed me was the White Queen. She was just…. annoying. xP

By: brightlotus

brightlotus — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:39:46 +0000

At least the march hare was delightfully mad.
“SPOON!”

By: JessicaDK

JessicaDK — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:27:08 +0000

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m planning to do it soon, probably with some friends. But everybody from my class, who has seen it, says that it’s quite good, so it can’t be that bad. I do remember, though, when reading the books that I found Alice a bit annoying. Ah well, she has 13 years and Tim Burton to change in.

P.S. I was in Dublin this week so happy belated St. Patrick’s Day! This has got to be the national holiday for the goblins as well, with all that beer consumation going on all the time.

By: Sarah Michele

Sarah Michele — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:00:01 +0000

* When Christopher Lee is going to be a voice in your movie, I don’t care if you are Tim Burton, give the man more than two lines. Gosh.

* “THEY KILLED MY JABBER-BABY-WOCKY?” – amazing.

* “…..spoon.” – FTW.

* KNEADING CHESHIRE CAT. squee

* Alan Rickman. ’nuff said.

Ahem. Yeth. I liked it. ^_^

By: Samantha

Samantha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:34:51 +0000

I just saw alice and I feel I must watch it a second time in order to give a good review BUT I must say I did enjoy it a bit.
And since everyone seems to have something to say about him My take on the Mad Hatter is that he has a case of multipule personality disorder, at one piont he says to Alice something like ” I feel cramped in there” refering to his head that Alice is holding as she is trying to calm him down after one of his Scotish rants.

By: Mandy

Mandy — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:35:20 +0000

Don’t feel too bad, gσßℓιη★ρяιηcεss, I can’t see 3D either.

By: Rachael

Rachael — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:53:10 +0000

I found Alice very disappointing, but I have only myself to blame for getting my hopes raised. I thought Burton would be perfect for it, but found that his spin on the characters and the landscape just didn’t gel for me. He moved so far into the fantasy/adventure zone of storytelling that it almost stopped feeling like Alice for me. I understand that he wanted to construct a more coherent narrative than what was present in the original books, but found that by giving the story a sense of logic he removed the ingredient that Alice in Wonderland is best known for: unpredictability.

Also, Alice was frustratingly limp and passive for huge stretches of the film. I know she had the big battle against the Jabberwock at the end of the film, but that just seemed tagged on and insincere. Everything about her fulfilling a prophecy to kill it seemed contrived, and she came across as being reluctant to the point of bored at some points, both due to the script and the acting. Also (sorry, I’m good at complaining. It’s an English trait) the way she spent the first half of the movie being carted around from place to place by various friends/creatures quickly got tiring, and I found myself waiting for Alice to do something – anything, really – of her own initiative. For comparison, I know Sarah isn’t the most pro-active heroine out there, but I think that’s allowed because she wasn’t supposed to have her basis in another character; at the start of Labyrinth at least, Sarah was meant to be somewhat infantile and useless, so she could grow out of those traits as the movie progressed. Book Alice, on the other hand, was extremely stoical and independent as a seven year old, traits that seem to have been drained out of movie-Alice. I really think it would have worked better if Burton had constructed his own, original fantasy, because he’s never going to escape negative comparisons by basing his films on works as highly established as Alice.

On the plus side, I did enjoy some of it very much. The whole thing looked beautiful, and Helena-Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen was absolutely hysterical throughout, the perfectly overgrown-toddler monarch.

Despite my tirade, I am glad that people enjoyed the film and that it’s doing well; hopefully it will lead to a lot more quirky (not high!) fantasy films appearing in cinemas.