I should preface this review by stating that the prospect of another Tim Burton/Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham-Carter collaboration fills me with cynicism. They create a guaranteed cash flow at the box office and unfortunately have become an all-to predictable team for such fantasy projects. Credit where credit is due, Burton does it well: if craggy, claw-like trees, and Goth/pop genre is your thing, but please Tim, let someone else provide a much needed breath of fresh air into it. His one- trick style failed me long before the awful Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the tragedy is that a wonderful acting talent in Depp has followed along.
The wonderland inhabited by Alice and the array of trippy characters is suitably hallucinatory driven, in keeping with Carroll’s vision, but there is something to saccharinely sweet throughout. A softness. And again, that word – predictable. Johnny Depp is fine. He plays the Mad Hatter and he meets the brief. Mad that is. As for Bonham-Carter, she should give thanks that nepotism is alive and well in Hollywood today. So irritating.
Despite this, the experience was thoroughly enjoyed by my 3 year old son, who was transfixed throughout. So if that is the audience that is targeted, I guess this film succeeds.
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