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Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" opens on the first Friday in March to much hype and anticipation. But early screenings left reviewers wondering, 'What's all the hype about?'
We’re looking at perspectives from The Los Angeles Times, NBC News, NY1, CMR, AMC-TV, and USA Today..
Despite opening to mostly negative reviews from movie critics, The LA Times says Alice is on track to bump Jesus, as the biggest winter debut in history.
“The record-holder is director Mel Gibson's 2004 release, "The Passion of the Christ," which opened to $83.8 million. In the U.S. and Canada, "Alice" is on track to sell more than $75 million worth of tickets from Friday through Sunday and, according to some estimates, could even exceed $90 million.”
Now to the critics' complaints. The Today Show says the remake will leave audiences more bored than a huka-smoking caterpillar.
“The movie often looks splendid, but as the narrative wavers and wanes, so does our interest. ...Tim Burton, offering his version of the classic Alice takes the plunge down the rabbit hole and falls just short”
A NY1 film critic says the actors aren’t great, but don't blame them.
“Johnny Depp does his turn as the mad hatter and he’s not that impressive here. But the fault doesn’t entirely lie with Depp or with the other actors, they’ve been misdirected by Burton and are dealing with an uninvolving and extremely confusing screenplay. ... By the end, with Alice as an action heroine, the movie looks less like Alice in Wonderland than it does a wacked out version of "Lord of the Rings", that’s been crossed with a weird Harry Potter film.”
CMR -- a movie review site -- says the 3D effects didn't live up to the standards set by Avatar.
“The fact that this movie was in 3D was another disappointment as it did not seem as crisp as the recently released “Avatar”. I don’t know what it was, but the 3D effects weren’t nearly as good."
In an interview with AMC-TV, Director Tim Burton explains why he wanted to go out on a limb and do something different.
“There’d been so many versions that for me, I never really responded to, so it was a real kind of goal to kind of like the material, like the characters, to try to do it justice in a way that hadn’t been done before.”
How about some good news? And not everyone hated the film. USA Today says the characters are fun and Wonderland – or Underland as it is better known in this film - is visually striking.
“Alice in Wonderland's menagerie of characters range from mildly loopy to certifiably insane. But they're immensely fun, and what they have to say has charm and verve…Alice, is engaging and amusing. The visual landscape in which she travels is awash in color, magic and splendor.”
Critics seem to hate it. But will audiences love it? Let us know what you think.
Writer: Alyssa Caverly
