13 – Alice in Wonderland
So before I start this review I have to
be up front about something. I love Alice in Wonderland. This
movie has been one of my favorites since I was a kid. I think there's
something just awesome about all of it so I'll do my best to be
objective about it but I really don't know how well I'll do.
The
story itself, despite how complicated and crazy it seems, is actually
quite simple. It's basically the story of a girl who is just terribly
bored of her normal life and wishes to be in her own Wonderland. She
soon finds out, of course, that it might not be quite as great as she
once thought.
Alice
is a young girl who just wants her life to be more interesting. I
think a lot of people can identify with that. We've all been kids,
sitting around bored while we were taught something we weren't
interested in or just wishing that life could be more exciting. The
movie does a really good job setting her character up in the first
few minutes. You can tell who she is by how she interacts with her
sister while she tries to teach Alice about history. If that wasn't
enough we get a great little musical number where Alice spells out
exactly what she wants in her life. This really reminded me of the
first musical sequence from Cinderella that
served a similar purpose. In addition to establishing her character,
I also thought it provided some really nice foreshadowing of what was
to come. It really makes sense why she would be so curious about a
white rabbit in a waistcoat and why she would follow him down a
rabbit whole to who knows where.
Wonderland
itself is just such a fantastic place. I loved the scene where Alice
falls down the rabbit hole. You can see the colors change and weird
things start appearing. It really feels like we're falling into a
strange new world. It's absolutely crazy the amount of detail and
interesting ideas they've crammed into this story. The animation is
probably the best I've seen since Pinocchio
as far as single story movies are concerned. The colors are so
vibrant and crazy. Wonderland just has this unique quality I don't
think I've ever seen replicated very well.
Once
we actually get into the story the pace is just crazy. Unlike
Cinderella I feel like
so much happened. She meets so many crazy characters and goes through
so much in the same amount of time that I think Cinderella
did relatively little. This does
come at a bit of a cost, however. No other character was nearly as
well developed as Alice. This story is really Alice's adventure and
they don't waste any time making the motivations and goals of the
other characters clear. I think in any other story this would drive
me crazy. But this is Wonderland and the fact that the characters are
so strange and cryptic just adds to the idea that Wonderland is a
place unlike any other. So I don't think that focussing on Alice was
a bad thing at all.
Alice
really had a great amount of development throughout the movie too.
Cinderella didn't really need to change or learn anything in her
story and I think it worked there. This story, however, needed a
character we could root for but still needed to learn a bit of a
lesson and grow up a bit by the end. In the beginning it's clear that
she's extremely curious and loves being in this crazy world. All of
her interactions with the crazy residents of Wonderland start with
her being intrigued and enjoying it. All of those interactions turn
sour eventually, however, and that starts making her realize that the
place might not be what she really wanted.
And
the characters she does meet are all so interesting. I love that when
she is introduced she sings about how she wants to talk to flowers
for hours and then gets the chance to in Wonderland. Of course, that
doesn't go exactly as she plans. She meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee
who tell her a strange nonsense story about a Walrus and a Carpenter.
I have to mention the Cheshire Cat, of course, who simultaneously
helps Alice but also tends to get her in trouble. And, of course, the
Mad Hatter's tea party is just a classic scene.
I
didn't really realize how important of a scene it was though. After
her “unbirthday” and fairly disastrous tea party you really start
getting the feeling that she's getting fed up with this world. She
finally gives up on chasing the shite rabbit and she is sick of the
“nonsense” around her. She realizes that she always knows right
from wrong but has trouble following her own advice sometimes. Again,
I think this is something people of all ages can sympathize with.
This all leads to her being “advised” by the Cheshire Cat to see
the Queen.
Now
that she has a goal she sets out to see the Queen to find a way home.
Being Wonderland, the Queen is just as crazy as anyone she's met. We
get a really good idea of how bad the queen is when we see some card
soldiers painting white roses red, because they're scared she'll be
angry with them. When the Queen sees that the roses are painted she
orders for them to be beheaded and we know immediately what kind of
ruler she is. This leads to a really great Croquet scene where we can
see just how scared everyone is of the Queen, rigging the game in her
favor. After the Cheshire Cat causes some more problems, Alice has to
prove her innocence in an absurdly one sided trial. This was a great
chance for them to bring back some of the old characters and have a
bit of a recap of all the crazy people she had met. This is one upped
later, however, by Alice's escape from Wonderland where we get to see
all those crazy characters one last time as Alice finds herself
asleep by a tree outside.
That
crazy description of the last bit of the movie should give you an
idea of how crazy and fast paced this movie is, if you haven't seen
it yourself. If you haven't seen it for yourself, do yourself a favor
and do it. It can really be absolute nonsense sometimes but I think
the animation and style, as well as the awesome characters just make
it all worthwhile.
As for
tomorrow, let's just say it's not the last we've hear of Kathryn
Beaumont.
13
down. 40 to go.
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