Hi guys.
I just watched Alice in Wonderland yesterday (I know yesterday was Monday but I was still lost in that weekend mood…)
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Well, before I say anything I should warn you that my mind is rather whimsical. I am easily attracted towards things that are pretty, weird and funny. It was no surprise that the Alice in wonderland poster caught my eye and I just loved it from the first sight. A weird big head queen, a fairy-like queen with dark bodeaux red lipstick (always wanted my skin to be white enough to try that), a queer cunning smiling cat, a red hair hat maker… Everything looked perfect to me. I could not say enough how much I wanted to watch it. I wanted so bad to see something that would probably reach Mirrormask‘s level of perfection (it’s one of my favourites). While Mirrormask is the one and only classic of fantasy movies, it looked like a close second is going to appear.
Unfortunately I did not have a chance to watch Alice in wonderland until yesterday. To be frank, I was a little disappointed by the way the movie went. Maybe the original story was such an excellent work that the movie’s attempt to surpass it failed terribly. Luckily, the whole movie was saved by good building of characters and excellent works of special effects. The whole thing looked so real yet there was still a really subtle touch of vaporosity to it that I felt like I was lost in a dream. A beautiful dream.
I really liked the story when I was a kid, mostly because of the images of a talking rabbit, some lion-bird creature, the old turtle with a hat and the drug-addicted caterpilla (well at least the version I read had such things). Most of all, I loved the story so much because it was actually one of the few tales I read that did not have any princesses or princes but just little Alice, who was pretty much curious like I was. I guess it was the sense of resemblance that drew me into the story so intensely. Every single line sounded so real and they were just exactly the sort of things that frequently appeared in my dreams as a child.
The movie, however, has a rather normal, unimpressive opening of a grown-up Alice. Fortunately that did not last long because after a few minutes she has already ran away from her engagement party and followed a rabbit into a rabbit hole. The fun stuff only started from there. You will emerge into that dreamy, expected world of Alice’s dream, and the movie went pretty much the same as the story. I did not really pay attention to the storyline. I was too absorbed into the beautiful scenes and characters of the movie instead.
My favourite is the Mad Hatter (you can see him in the picture above). He is a really interesting guy. As the story goes, you’d meet him at that tea party where the floating/smiling cat took Alice to. His look is just perfect. His red messy hair. His constantly changing colour eye-bag. His old, ragged hat. His mysterious half-open smile showing crooked yellow teeth. His ugly, dirty but skilful fingers. Isn’t he the one that never hides anything; the one that cares about others too much to care about himself; the one that you could trust with your secrets; the one that you could find anytime of the day and he’ll make you smile before you know it. I mean, ok you may say that my imagination went too far, but you must admit that he’s an excellent figure, a great creation.
I might as well mention other important characters such as Alice herself and the two queens.
Alice is not far from herself when she fell into the rabbit hole as a child. Still that curious mind, with the constant disbelief of what she sees and keeps reminding to herself that it was all a dream and everything will disappear once someone comes to wake her up. She is not exceptionally beautiful but she is sure a special girl. In the modern world, you would probably see her as a girl with hair dyed in red and purple, who works as a writer or an artist and have the sense of fashion that no decent woman would ever dare to try on. She is a real rebel who does not give a damn about society’s expectations of her. Not bad for the main character of the movie.
Moving on to the queens, they surely look different, appearance-wise and character-wise. One exceptionally beautiful (no questioning for this, come on, it’s Anna Hathaway!!! With red lipstick!!!), one just simply ugly. One gracious, warm-hearted, one rude and cold-minded. However, to a certain extent, I think they’re similar in one thing: they’re both crazy. I almost have no explanation for this, just a feeling, can’t be justified nor can it be changed.
Other characters such as the smiling cat, the smoking caterpilla, the fat twins, the rabbit, the mouse, etc, also added a lot of taste that worth a try to this movie.
I don’t think I will watch it again. I’m scared I’ll be too fed up with the story, and I’d like to keep the feeling I have for the people in there like now, positive more than negative. One thing is for certain, I don’t regret watching it. It’s worth it 🙂
Chaotic world 