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.