Saturday, March 06, 2010

‘Alice’ unchained

An imaginative visitor to Underland returns as a fated heroine in “Alice in Wonderland,” an enchantingly color-drenched, trippy vision directed by Tim Burton. Now grown up, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is joined by oddball allies the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), among other dreamlike denizens. They must end the mad reign of the freakish, rampaging Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). Brimming with Burton’s typical visual trimmings, the film easily treads a stylishly cartoony and artificial landscape, but some situations in the “unreal” world become repetitive and/or feel unnecessary. Some characters lack dimension, as well. Still, it’s easy to get attached to Alice, who must also fight encumbering tradition in the real world. Also, Depp and Carter are delightful, as always.

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