Alice in Wonderland
2010 · Directed by Tim Burton
Original language: English
- family
- fantasy
- adventure
The story
Alice, now 19 years old, returns to the whimsical world she first entered as a child and embarks on a journey to discover her true destiny.
What it’s like
Saturated, theatrical color against a grey Victorian England: the film opens in muted greens and dove-grey interiors, then tips into a Wonderland of lurid teal skies, candy-pink flora, twisted root-forests and vast, stylised landscapes built largely from digital set extensions. Tim Burton's gothic-whimsy signature is everywhere, in towering sets, off-kilter compositions and a lot of heavy, ornate costume, with Danny Elfman's swelling, playful score carrying the mood. The pace is brisk and often busy, more visual spectacle than quiet observation, and the tone swings between giddy and faintly melancholy as a young woman, Alice, slowly shakes off the expectations placed on her and claims her own sense of self. Intensity is mild: some battle scenes and a looming dragon-like creature bring peril, but there is no gore and little real menace, so it sits comfortably with younger viewers. It suits a rainy weekend afternoon, a family movie night, or a playful fantasy escape for anyone who enjoys ornate production design and fairy-tale strangeness.
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