Rating of
3/4
Utterly Bizzare
JLFM - wrote on 04/27/12
To put it simply, Alice In Wonderland is bizzare. To put it less simply, Alice In Wonderland explores the oddities of a child's imagination, and the utter weirdness of a seemingly mad person to such an extent as to create one of the strangest films I have ever seen.
We all know the story. Alice sees a white rabbit exclaiming "I'm late, I'm late!" over and over, and of course, silly Alice, follows the talking rabbit down a rabbit hole and into the land of...well, wonder.
Like all Disney films, memorable characters abound. Yes, Alice is a little thinly drawn (really, all the characters are a bit one dimensional), but in the same way, they're all so distinct, and unlikely to be forgotten. The strong voice cast only supports this.
Alice In Wonderland is far weirder than I expected. At times, it seems to make no sense whatsoever. This is not a bad thing, mind you.
Curiously enough, I laughed very little during this film. I smiled a lot though, and the utter weirdness of it all was so absurd, I could not help but be entertained, though I retained any laughter. The one primary scene that provoked laughter was the "Tea Time" scene with the Mad Hatter. It's even more outrageous on screen than it is in the book.
Alice In Wonderland certainly does not represent the height of Disney films, or even animated films in general. What it does represent, is a solid film with no real flaws, but not exceedingly entertaining. It serves it's purpose as a weird and enjoyable film, but does not extend it's hand any farther.
