Take Me to Wonderland

I've always related to Alice, Lewis Carroll's fictitious heroine in both of his Victorian-era novels, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Maybe it's because she fell down a hole, and I tend to trip a lot, or for the fact that she never listened to what anyone said. Regardless, any story with talking rabbits, queens and crowns, and a potion that can shrink you is definitely one for me. And despite learning that Anne Hathaway (who needs a tanning bed in every room in her house) would be playing a very significant role in the movie, I was very excited to hear about the remake of the Disney cartoon. Tim Burton?! Johnny Depp?! 3D glasses?! There was very little, aside from ghostly Annie, that could sway me from being completely obsessed with this film.
For the girl who doesn't do drugs, Alice in Wonderland was a visual acid trip, with the film capturing bright colors, butterflies in 3D effects that I wanted to catch with my hand (until my friend Drew told me to stop it), and probably some of the most insane make-up I've ever seen applied to characters in a movie in a long time. Star Mia Wasikowska breaks the stereotype of Alice being a lilthy, ditzy blonde, and gives the character a darker, more raw image. Though attractive, her sunken-in eyes and often blank facial expressions throughout the film contrast with the colorful life in Wonderland, making it even more visually pleasing. The Queen of Hearts, who made me LOL the entire time, made me wish I had my own stash of toad-butlers, and the Cheshire cat's eerie smile made me slightly uncomfortable (which, I think, was the goal). And while Johnny Depp played the perfect Mad Hatter, his accent made me feel like I was listening to Jack Sparrow during points of the film, and sometimes got just a little bit inconsistent. His orange hair and painted face made him look like an insane combination of Kiss and Carrot Top, which made me want to be at his tea party even more.
But while Burton's creation does tend to sway from the original story a bit, it's a movie that girls, guys, kids, and grandmas will definitely enjoy. The visual pleasure that it cultivates will leave you wanting to see it a second time (which I am doing with my friend Jules this week). And, unlike Avatar, the 3D glasses didn't even give me a headache!