Feelings are simple. So can how you choose to describe them. I write simply because not everyone thinks in metaphors, or similes or creative round-about adventures. Some people think “Wow, that’s really beautiful,” and their only wish is for someone to agree with them in more than just four little words.
–Kia Tyler
Thanks to Zazzle.com
*From media.onsugar.com Thank you!
We all knew it was coming…and those of us who had lived with one foot in Wonderland since childhood were trying hard to keep a lid on our excitement…but once it landed, there was no containing it, was there?
I am a die-hard Alice fan, I love and respect all versions of how many artists throughout the years have seen Alice and her adventures, and I truly consider it an honor to experience the magical world of Wonderland through another artist’s eyes. I try hard to collect all things “Alice”, because its just that awesome a hobby to me, and when it came to be Tim Burton’s turn at the classic story, I was over the moon. I tracked the making of the movie like a person possessed, constantly scouring the internet and my trusty Entertainment Weekly magazine for juicy tidbits of information to keep my curiosity satisfied until the march 5th release date. Those of us that are already fans of Tim Burton trusted him to do an awesome job, but that still doesn’t keep us from wondering what may happen to our most beloved tale in the history of literature if this may be the one moment Tim slips and leaves us sobbing and broken-hearted.
I am happy to report, my friends, that this was NOT one of those times. As soon as I sat down in the crowded theater, crunched between a lady who really needed two seats and a couple making out quite noisily, everything faded away once the film started. The cinematography was awesome, never a dull moment, and the art direction swept me away. I LOVED that Tim picked up where the previous stories had left off, this time Alice (played by Mia Wasikowska) returning to “(W)underland” as a confused adult, afraid of choosing her future for fear of disappointing her family and social circle, or much worse, choosing what was expected of her and disappointing herself. She retruns to find it’s still a land of strange and unusual happenstances at every turn, yet a world of innocence lost as a result of the Queen of Hearts (played by Helena Bonham-Carter quite well) tyrannical rule. There was no more curiosity in this world as before when it had been full of it. In fact, the only trace left of anything of the sort was with the now- banished White Queen (played by Anne Hathaway) who awaits a champion (guess who?) to help her battle to regain control of “(W)underland” and return it to the peaceful land of innocence and trippy curiosity it had once been during Alice’s first visit.
Alice stumbles throughout (W)underland believeing she is in a dream, which as a result makes her quite a bit detatched from everything she sees and does, and does not give us the same feeling we had during her first visit. Luckily, she meets some old friends along the way. The good old Mad Hatter, (played by none other than Johnny Depp, who in my opinion, has always possessed the acting skills similar to a pointillism painting, because watching portions of it will never help you understand until you reach the end so you can stand back and see the whole picture) The Doormouse, played by Barbra Windsor, and of course the Cheshire Cat (Played by Stephen Fry). All of these old friends help her find her way by getting her lost, which as we know, is the only proper way to find one’s self. It’s a wondrous journey, and these characters do a fantastic job of reminding the grown-up Alice of how important it is to grow up, but also to keep some small part of you young and innocent. I relished the idea of how all embraced being “mad” as a normality, because it’s something I must do each day myself.
All in all, it was a grand story, and I cannot wait to see it again. Tim Burton proves it is still possible to breathe new life into an old classic, to give a story a mushroom and “grow it up”, into something that even folks my age can still appreciate as the most wonderful story ever told.
Props to all of us die-hard Alice fans who loved a chance to re-attend the Mad Tea Party…I only hope we don’t have to wait so long to be invited back…again.
Last night, I had the rare opportunity to take my daughter out to the movies. She’s 9, and is fast becoming old enough that being seen with her parents may be traumatizing and embarrassing to her “rep”, so We waited til dark.
The movie of choice was Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
As neither of us had read the stories, we were able to keep a completely open mind on the story, which i thought one word word was sufficient to sum it up: “meh”.
That’s all, just “meh.”
My daughter wasn’t that impressed, either. There were parts she saw that she liked, but overall, we both left the theater talking more about how tired we were than much about the movie at all.
It seems you may have had to be a certain age to enjoy it, which maybe we were both outside that bubble, but in my personal opinion the story seemed to be very “flat”. Sub-plots were scarce, and the reasoning behind every moderately amazing moment in the film seemed to carry a tone of “because we said so”. I was constantly seeking out answers on how something was the way it was, and there was simply not enough answers in the film to keep me interested.
Like I said, maybe I was too old and my daughter too young to enjoy it correctly, but we gave it our best shot.
I’d say there’s something great about it for sure, but I couldn’t’ find it. I do look forward to it coming out on cable, so I can give it another fair shot. This will give me time to read the books and make a more educated review of it this time around.
I must admit, the idea of holding a thunderbolt does sound appealing, though….
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