We all know the stories of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass penned by Charles Dodgeson using the pseudonym of Lewis Caroll. Countless films have been produced based on his books and most have failed. These books have always been considered classics yet at the same time they are two novels that were really just a series of random happenstances which created stories that were virtually unfilmable when it came to story. Of course these stories also have never been bright and joyous but rather dark and creepy. They really are kids books in an adult world.
In Burton's wonderland, Alice is now 19 and stumbles down the rabbit hole once again after being faced with a marriage proposal from a snobbish lord. She returns to Underland, which she originally called Wonderland as a young girl, and encounters many of the same characters and events as she did on her first journey as well as much more.
As I have previously stated, the books really are a journey of random events and to this the story of Burton's wonderland, written by Linda Woolverton, takes a coherency that was heavily lacking in the novels. The story successfully combines both books in one story that captures the heart and imagination of this surreal world. Whereas the original story was a surreal dream with random and passing characters, this Alice is a coherent story with a through plot of in depth characters.
The characters all have amazing depth. There seems to be a backstory to each one, from the hatter, to the red queen, to the hound we can feel for the characters and see there is more to them than just a purpose for what could very well be Alice's crazy imagination. These characters all fit very well into the newly imagined wonderland and the vibrant visual style that is brought to the screen in this adaptation.
It is a film that relies heavily on CGI for it's created world but is also one of the few where it fits well. For such a surreal world and oddly imagined story, Burton really is one of the few directors who is fit to direct such a project. Wonderland becomes more than just a dream in this world, it is a surreal world where most anything can happen and by the time it comes to return to the real world we sort of want to stay with these mad characters. There is a sort of charm to them despite their slight creepiness.
But mostly this film is a coming of age story. When Alice is faced with a big decision she doesn't know what to do, so she flees, and than in wonderland she discovers herself. It's a story of transitioning from the young life to the adult life, one of the hardest transitions, and even though we are tempted to stay in the surreal world we must come back and face reality.
Burton's wonderland is a fresh and original adaptation as you've never seen it before that contains the heart of both novels combined.
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