Review: Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

I didn’t enjoy it as much as you.  I think the hero’s quest didn’t always fit the story.  Burton himself said he always thought the story didn’t lack a coherent narrative, but that was the whole POINT of the original work.  Regardless, often times I felt like I was watching the best Chronicles of Narnia film and not Alice.

The cast was great, with Helena Bonham Carter being the stand out.  Johnny Depp was good, but he and Burton really need to start seeing other people.  And I adore Anne Hathaway, so to see her wafting through the film as if she’s auditioning for a Lunesta commercial was a treat.  Also a treat?  Christopher Lee as the voice of the Jabberwocky.

Although the visuals were impressive, even if the CGI was often off especially when Crispin Glover’s Knave was on screen, this is probably the least Burton-esque film Burton’s ever done.  It had a distinctive mercenary vibe to it that I just couldn’t shake.  And that horrible, horrible “Mac & Me” moment at the end where the Mad Hatter breakdances?  Everybody involved should be entirely ashamed.  I actually shouted “Oh, Jesus f-ing Christ!” at the screen, to the dismay of the families around me.  It cost the film a point, to be sure.

Still, worth the watch.

Oh, I did have my complaints. I agree that the dance felt very out of place, but I think that was mainly the hip hop sound of the music. If the music had been more Elfman-esque, it would have been less distracting.

I also felt Matt Lucas was wasted. I had just read an interview with him where he talked in length about the Tweedles and their complexity, so I was expecting him to steal the show.

But I still found myself getting swept up in the quest.

The quest was actually what made the film not entirely gel for me.  Grafting a hero’s quest onto the story of Alice seemed ill-fitting.  It helped make a decent narrative, but it just seemed kind of cheap. 

I do agree that Matt Lucas was wasted.  I think the problem was that there were far too many characters, and since all of them were variations of “whack-a-doo”, it was hard to give them a lot of personality.  I wanted to see more of the Tweedles, though.

I agree that the film is something to behold but also agree that the film was something else entirely. Since watching the film I’ve been trying to figure out what was nagging me while it was obvious that the 3D was part of it, TOTALLY unnecessarily annoying, the other part though is definitely the hero’s quest.

Admittedly it’s an interesting spin and I always believe the little girl lost story is always a journey of self-discovery and any ‘champion’ worthy fight is incidental. Here Alice had no real choice; it wasn’t a fight of necessity but rather a destiny whether she likes it or not.

While a destiny as a warrior/champion isn’t necessarily a bad thing, look at Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Buffy Summers, the idea is kind of a loss on Alice and her foray into Wonderland. more to the point while those characters are destined to be great warriors most reject the idea of a destiny and instead choose to fight as they often see they have a chance to escape this fate.

Alice apparently had none while the choice to fight is noble, when isn’t saving innocents from the wrath of a tyrant, in the end it was harsher than it really needed to be. Still i think the film was a success and i REALLY need to see it in 2D as 3D really ruins it all making us focus on the visuals instead of the story.