Alice in Wonderland (2010)

★★★★✩

With a record breaking first weekend at the box office and several huge stars, combined with the facts that it is one of the most beloved stories of all time (and in 3D!), the expectations for the film Alice in Wonderland are extremely high. Unfortunately, such high expectations are rarely fully met, and this is no exception.

Most noticeably, the name of the movie is deceiving, for while it is based on the books ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ by Lewis Carroll—and noticeably so—it is a completely different tale. It is more of a continuation of the original, and those who expect to see their favourite fairy-tale in a new light don’t get what they expected. There are also several points in the plot where there is a lull, or where everything happens much too quickly, as if the film's suspense and excitement were not properly distributed. The movie’s ending, in particular, seems out of place and unrealistic—reactions seem unsuited to characters and something seems, well, “off”.

HOWEVER, one has absolutely NO TIME to dwell on these negative aspects because they are greatly outnumbered and outdone by the positive ones. The digital effects are awesomely magical and the costumes and make-up are extremely impressive. One finally gets to enter the world that everyone has dreamed of being in—the 3D helps with this, of course, but is not a necessity. High-profile actors are seen in roles the likes of which we have never seen them in before, and fun ones at that—Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, and Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar, to name a few.

All in all, despite it’s faults, Alice in Wonderland deserves a high rating, and is definitely worth seeing. However, is it a film I could see again and again and never ever tire of? Probably not.