Alice in Wonderland - 3D

Critics don't seem to like this film very much, but I watched it at a matinee, and thoroughly enjoyed the cries of awe from the little children as they had their first 3D experience. It immediately put a smile on my face.

Although I'm inclined to interpret Alice too much like a written work with themes and tropes, I honestly feel there's more to this film than first glance reveals.

The main criticism seems to be that the plot lacked something, and I did feel moments where movement seemed shallow, but ultimately the film captured the nonsensical elements of Lewis Carroll's Alice, and the coming-of-age feeling of Through the Looking Glass but without any surreptitious recitation of "Cherry-Ripe."

For at least a century an essential theme of fantasy literature, especially written for children, was that element of growing out of adventure; C.S. Lewis's children grow too old for Narnia, etc. This film seemed to wish to undo some of that by making Underland (as a REAL place) an essential element of Alice's adult courage. She knew she could face her own reality because of successes she experienced in Underland, and the world above would only have been able to speculate about the source of her sudden strength. Her courage relied substantially on the reality of Underland, because if she'd woken to find it all a dream then her successes would have been as imaginary as the characters. She would have simply been experiencing a Freudian wish-fulfillment dream which would have allowed her to re-integrate with society upon her return. The movie would have had a much different conclusion, and Alice would have had a husband completely devoid of chin.

Alice's decision to fight the Jabberwocky seems somewhat unfounded in logic. The film revolved essentially around that single decision (assuredly an allegory for facing society and an unwanted fiance) but her reasoning was as unsound as that of the White Queen. Some unspecified and under-explained vow prevented the queen from defending her own kingdom, and yet she'd so calmly send a total stranger into battle, as long as she fit the armour.

Elements that fit well were Danny Elfman's original music (barely noticeable except at specific moments, as if he were saying, "I'm here, we may now continue"); Johnny Depp's fluxuating accents; the stark animated settings; the White Queen's connection to death; the Red Queen's relationship with Stayne; her court's false grotesqueries; the chess vs. bridge antagonism; Alice's wardrobe difficulties, and their varied solutions; and the much-improved 3D effects.

Elements which did not seem congruent were Anne Hathaway's acting (although I may be biased - I generally dislike her acting, especially in period pieces, or anything atypical. She just can't seem to pull off anything bizarre, unlike Johnny Depp and Helene Bonham-Carter, both of whom can pull off anything); the White Queen's reluctance to fight (especially as, visually at least, she was an obvious fit for the role); and the role of the prophecy, which seemed unfortunately to detract from the value of Alice's decision to fight.