Alice In Wonderland Review

Ever since the abysmal Disney Animation adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, the hope of a decent revival of the classic Carroll novel has faded away in silence: until now. Tim Burton's reimagining, while at times utterly bonkers, successfully captures the essence of what the author originally intended "Wonderland" to look like at the time of writing. Jonny Depp's portrayal of the Mad Hatter is one of his most wild creations yet, as the Hatter constantly switches from states of hysteria to ones of disturbing vengeance and anger which may shock even the most dedicated of Depp fans. While there is a large all-star cast for Alice, Depp feels like the most prominent of them, as his character is barely ever off-screen even for a few minutes (bar the epic conclusion), however legends such as Alan Rickman and Anne Hathaway do have their moments, creating some much-needed comedy in what is at times a very dark interpretation of the original text. Newcomer Mia's portrayal of Alice proves an interesting and enjoyable one, although the actress does seem to take the idea of Wonderland merely being a dream too seriously at times. Alice in Wonderland certainly isn't the perfect flick: the gag of Wonderland actually being "Underland" does more harm than good; at times it feels like a collection of sketches merged into one and the ending, while tying loose ends, leaves a lot to be desired, but all in all it proves to be the best adaptation yet of Carroll's piece. 3.5/5