Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - My Thoughts

I realized I never posted my thoughts on Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, which I saw for the first time around May 2010 I believe it was. I'm kind of glad I didn't review it then, because I was still very VERY obsessed with the Syfy version and just about anything would've paled in comparison. Now that quite a bit of time has passed, I re-watched the movie with a fresh outlook.

First off, Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland is sort of a sequel to the 1950's Disney animated feature of Alice In Wonderland and sort of a reimagining. The characters look nothing like their animated counterparts though, because it's obviously Tim Burton's vision. Everything about it screams Burton, and I've been a fan of his movies for years. The cast is typical Tim Burton with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. Anymore I don't think Tim Burton would make a movie without these two in it, and that's not a bad thing. I like them both. However, that being said, I didn't care for the fact that this was really the Mad Hatter's show. It sort of made me wish that if Tim Burton was going to make a version of Alice with Johnny Depp as the star, that it really would've been something entirely different and make it a movie about the Mad Hatter, period. It could've even been a prequel, before Alice came to Wonderland. I think that would've been pretty interesting, and something that hasn't been done before on film.

Alice is played by Mia Wasikowska, and I didn't know this actress before the film but she does a really great job as Alice, probably one of my favorite Alices so far. I only wish she wouldn't have been overshadowed so much by Johnny Depp. Anne Hathaway plays the White Queen, who for me, was the weak link in the cast. For one thing, she seemed too young for the role. She's supposed to be the Red Queen's sister and they seem a little too far apart in age. I would've loved to see someone like Cate Blanchett play the White Queen. The White Queen in the novel was always one of my favorite characters, and I thought the direction they went with her in this version was a little odd. The White Queen definitely has lost her marbles, but Anne Hathaway's version just seems like a flake to me.

What also struck me as odd, since Tim Burton decided to go with the battle between the Red and White Queens and their respective soldiers, is the total absence of the White Knight. Considering the Red Queen had Stayne, the Knave of Hearts is basically her main defender, the White Knight would've been an excellent addition and there could've been a pretty epic showdown between him and the Knave of Hearts. Instead this role is filled by the Mad Hatter, which in my opinion might've worked better had he not been quite so off his rocker. He seems really inconsistent as a character, sometimes seeming batty and jovial and other times seeming really dark and almost sinister. This was usually distinguished by his foppish lisp when he was acting silly, and sporting a Scottish brogue when he was more serious. I kind of understood why they made the distinction, but I think it could've been fleshed out better with more flashbacks and more insight into Hatter's story and past.

The visuals are stunning, and very Burton-esque, which I liked. I actually would've liked even more use of traditional Burton visuals, but it was a good balance. I could've used a little bit less CGI. I wish more of the characters were "real", and even the ones that were real, had CGI elements which I found distracting (ie the Mad Hatter's eyes, and Stayne's entire body were both CGI). It seemed very cartoony at times, but I have to let it slide a little knowing that the movie was geared for a younger audience.

That might be my main gripe with the movie. When I first heard that Tim Burton was doing an Alice movie, I immediately thought of his darker movies like Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd, and thought that Alice would follow suit. I wasn't thinking of his later efforts such as Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, which was much more colorful and kid-oriented. I would really love to see someone tackle a much more offbeat and sinister Alice In Wonderland, something more similar to American McGee's Alice.

The movie feels very short for what it is. I felt like it had the potential to be really epic, what with the battle at the end, but it fell a little short. It wasn't even 2 hours long, and considering that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory surpassed 2 hours, I felt a little cheated. They could've fleshed out the Mad Hatter's backstory more and made the ending battle even more exciting.

Overall, it's worth watching and it's certainly not the worst version of Alice In Wonderland I've seen. I just don't think it quite lived up to the hype, and I would've liked a little less visual and a little more story.

An Alice Find...

So I was at the Dollar Tree earlier this week, and they had an Alice In Wonderland jigsaw puzzle! Although they carry quite a bit of Disney Princess stuff, I've never seen anything Alice related there. It's a very cute puzzle, especially for $1, so if you collect Alice memorabilia, you might want to check out your local Dollar Tree for this item :)

Pic:

Alice: Madness Returns Official Release Date Announced!

So I just found out that Alice: Madness Returns has an officially release date of June 14th, 2011! I honestly can't believe it's so soon! I figured no earlier than October.

Remember, you can pre-order it from Amazon:

Syfy Alice - Missing Scene Script

I was rewatching one of the behind the scenes footage of the Syfy Alice (that I posted before), and I noticed on the comments someone mentioned reading a scene from the original script that didn't end up making the final cut. You can read the script portion here:

Andrew-Lee Potts - HATTER BACKSTORY UNLEASHED

This has just got my mind racing with possibilities for a sequel. Although I loved the romantic relationship between Hatter and Alice, Hatter and Mad March's rivalry actually intrigued me more, considering every other version has them being good friends. The script seems to hint at the possibility of Mad March being Hatter's brother. I would love to see Hatter's backstory explored, since "Alice" pretty much covered Alice's backstory. A sequel could even utilize Mad March as the main villain, since imho he was wasted a bit in "Alice", considering he's supposed to be the Queen's best assassin and only killed one person on screen.

On the IMDB, it says Nick Willing (the director of "Alice") is currently filming a Peter Pan re-imagining called Neverland. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that perhaps once that is completed, he'll consider doing a sequel to "Alice".

Alice In Wonderland tribute video

Just thought I'd share real quick that I've uploaded a new video to my Youtube account. It's a tribute to all my favorite versions of Alice In Wonderland set to the song "Her Name Is Alice" by Shinedown.

Another new Alice: Madness Returns video

Well, EA has posted another teaser for the new "Madness Returns" game. You can watch it below:

See more Alice: Madness Returns Videos at Alice: Madness Returns Official Site.

This video is pretty cool, however, the appearance of the Hatter is now bothering me. Now I know the teasers for games and the actual in-game characters often differ, but it doesn't seem like it should be this "off". He looks very witch-like to me now, and his hat is considerably shorter. I'm not trying to nitpick--I am dying to play the game when it comes out--but there are certain features that made the characters stand out so much in the original game that really didn't need "updating" or "tweaking". Hatter's overly tall top hat, for example, separated him from other Hatters in other adaptations of Alice In Wonderland, and though it was a simple change, it was very effective.

I'm holding out hope that these teasers aren't a reflection of how the characters will look in the game. In the following video:

See more Alice: Madness Returns Videos at Alice: Madness Returns Official Site.

...you can pause at 1:16 and see a still shot of the Hatter and the Cheshire Cat, and they really look quite good. Pretty darn close to the originals, yet updated. I'm hoping these are stills from the game and not just concept art.

Since Alice looks very different in the teasers than she does in the screenshots I've seen, I'm thinking the teasers aren't really a reflection of what we'll see in game, especially since it's still early. Obviously that's nothing new in the video game industry. Many early teasers and trailers often don't end up looking anything like the final product. I'm just hoping for a nicely updated sequel to American McGee's Alice that is still faithful to the original. Only time will tell.

Alice: Madness Returns (sequel to American McGee's Alice)

For those of you who haven't heard, there is a sequel to American McGee's Alice in development called Alice: Madness Returns. I think it's due out late this year, and will be available on PC/MAC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.



Amazon lists the release for December 31st, but if it comes out this year, my money is on an October release. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

There are lots of screenshots and a few videos over at EA Games. The first two teaser videos are below:

See more Alice: Madness Returns Videos at Alice: Madness Returns Official Site.

See more Alice: Madness Returns Videos at Alice: Madness Returns Official Site.

So as for my initial impressions of the game, I think it looks really promising and it looks like they've stayed very true to the original game. The only thing that's bugging me so far is how Alice looks. I think she looks a little too different from the first game. At first I thought they wanted her to look more grown up, but I heard that the game picks up right where the first game left off, so taking that into consideration, I think she could've looked a little bit closer to the original game. See for yourself:

American McGee's Alice (2000):

Alice: Madness Returns (2011):

It's not just the fact that graphics have improved greatly over the past decade, because Cheshire Cat and The Mad Hatter both look very close to their early counterparts, only much more detailed. I just think Alice had a much more creepy, interesting, and exotic look in the first game, so much so that she has been emulated numerous times in fanart, cosplays, etc. But the game is still in development so perhaps this isn't the final version of Alice.

Syfy Alice Interviews

Before Syfy's Alice premiered, there was a promotional video on their website (it might still be up, I'm not sure), where they interviewed Caterina Scorsone, Andrew Lee Potts, and Matt Frewer. You can watch it below:




Apparently though they edited the interview quite a lot, cause yesterday I found some extended parts with Andrew Lee Potts, uploaded by DarkestStarRMS3







I don't know where she always finds these great vids, but again many thanks to her! :)

And a quick comment about the last part, it makes me feel hopeful again for a possible sequel. It's funny, because on the Alice dvd commentary, both Nick Willing (the director) and Caterina Scorsone said they'd be interested in coming back for a sequel, and obviously Andrew Lee Potts would be on board, so I don't know, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Behind The Scenes of Syfy Alice

In case you haven't seen them yet, I found a few behind the scenes clips on Youtube from the Syfy Alice. These are so cool, and really should've been on the DVD/Blu-Ray *grumble*







So many thanks to the Youtubers who uploaded these. And I'm sure there's more, but it's crazy late now, so I'll hopefully post more tomorrow.

Malice In Wonderland

A few months ago, I got the opportunity to watch a movie called "Malice In Wonderland" which came out in 2009 and stars Maggie Grace (from "Lost"). The movie is a modern re-imagining of "Alice In Wonderland", but not to be confused with the Syfy "Alice", as the characters are only vaguely reminiscent of the original Lewis Carroll creations, and it's much darker. "Malice In Wonderland" is definitely not a movie for kids. There's a trippy aspect to this movie, which is suitable for any "Alice" story, but with a much more urban feel, rather than fantasy. Wonderland isn't a place of fun and whimsy, but rather a place inhabited by criminals and low-lives, and Alice gets stuck there with no memory of who she is and no way of knowing how to get home.

Minor spoilers ahead, but what intrigued me most about the story is the fact that Alice's love interest isn't Hatter (who happens to be female in this version), but rather the White Rabbit character (played by Danny Dyer), who is a man named Whitey and drives a cab and seems to be a slave to time (much like the White Rabbit was always fretting about being late, in the original novel). It was interesting seeing Alice paired with someone different, and their scenes together were really good.

What really does it for me with this movie, is the ending. And I'm not going to give anything away, but I really liked where the story ended up.

I have to say though, the greatest thing about this movie is the song during the opening credits. I had never heard it before, and immediately fell in love with it. The song is "Bring Back Her Head" by Angelica. Listen to it below:



"Malice In Wonderland" is currently available on Instant Watch, if you have Netflix. It's worth a watch, but it's not nearly as good as the Syfy re-imagining. I really shouldn't compare the two, but it's hard not to since they're both modern day re-imaginings.

8 Months Later...

Yes, I haven't updated my blog in ages! I had some major computer problems and just real life stuff that kept me away :( I'm hoping I can keep this updated now that I've worked out the kinks in my computer (knock on wood!), and things have settled down a bit.

I noticed there's some missing Amazon links, and a couple formatting issues in my previous blog posts. I need to re-familiarize myself with Blogger and get those fixed. I also have some Alice-y things to talk about which will be coming soon, I promise! Right now it's 5:30-ish in the morning, and I haven't gone to bed yet (I'm such a night owl!), so I've got to keep this post brief. I will post an update later though.