Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'm assuming it was the fact that it was the fact the GG took his kids and wife to it.

Did no one see Big Fish? While it had it's eccentricities, it was quite restrained for a Burton film.

Ahtman wrote:Did no one see Big Fish? While it had it's eccentricities, it was quite restrained for a Burton film.

It was all right, but wouldn't watch it again. Kind of moved on from Burton. Last film he made I actually enjoyed was Sleepy Hollow. I blame HBC for his crapness in recent years. Note the downward spiral all started with Planet of the Apes. Prior to that his "muse" was Lisa Marie... he should have stuck with her IMO.

Ahtman wrote:Did no one see Big Fish? While it had it's eccentricities, it was quite restrained for a Burton film.

I enjoyed both of these films, tbh.

Course, I am easy to entertain for the most part when it comes to movies.

Kanluwen wrote:I'm assuming it was the fact that it was the fact the GG took his kids and wife to it.

Yes it's expensive to take a family of four to see a movie now a days not mention 3d movies.

GG

I saw it, it was spank.

Same as Avatar, these new CGI films are all following a disturbingly identical pattern, ie. They look fantastic, but are corny, badly scripted and just have no fething point.

3/10

I am bored twatless by Danny Elfman's scores, they all sound the fething same...

Dun-Da Dun-Da Dun-Da, ahhhhhhh aaaahhh ahhh ahh....

FFS,change the fething record.

I've liked most Tim Burton films, but this was a poor movie.

The script was terrible, and sitting through this pointless, dull movie I began to imagine the Hollywood boardroom where they decided that while they wanted to spend a few hundred million on a film called Alice in Wonderland, the actual stories of Alice and Through the Looking Glass are all a little odd, and don't contain any messages about believing in yourself or choosing your own destiny. So they figured why not take the characters from the books, but tell a whole new story about Alice growing to reject her horrible aristocratic suitor, and learning this by going to the Underworld (a mixture of the worlds of the two books) where she slays the Jabberwocky and defeats the Red Queen. Now they have all the branding and famous characters, but all the safety of a Hollywood script. I imagine this was ended with one executive drumming his hands on the table and telling everyone how great it was that they could work and do coke at the same time.

The main villain of the movie, the Jabberwocky is nothing more than a nonsense poem in Through the Looking Glass, a silly imagining for Alice to puzzle over for a short time. In the film the Jabberwocky is taken very seriously, and that more or less sums up everything that went wrong with this piece of crap.

Even the eye candy was pretty poor. There was nothing that imaginative in the set design or costuming, which is surprising for Burton movie. I admit I did like hats presented to the Queen, but that was a thirty second scene. The Cheshire Cat was quite good as well, but was eventually let down (like all the characters were) by being shoe-horned into an heroic role.



At the end of this movie, by the way, Alice says she could be the first one to trade with China, which would be made easier as the British already controlled Hong Kong. I'm willing to accept she meant the first Englishmen to trade with China... but if the English control Hong Kong then trade had been going on for more than 200 years by this point. The point is made even more incoherent by the simple fact that Hong Kong was taken by the British to facilitate their trade with China. This wasn't piece of fudging to keep the movie going, this was a totally unnecessary line that just didn't need to be so obviously wrong. It's a really minor thing, but so unnecessary, and showed how sloppy the script was.

Personally I think her surreal experiences in Wonderland convinced her to be the first Englishwoman to sell Opium in China.

Just as Tom Cruise inspired Japan to return to its samurai roots and invade Korea.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:I am bored twatless by Danny Elfman's scores, they all sound the fething same...

It's because Oingo Boingo had one barely-classifies-as-a-hit hit, "Deadman's Party."

Marky Mark and the Planet of the Apes - what a joke. I think that I feel asleep in the movie.

I REALLY wanted to see Green Zone, but I was with the missus, so that was a no-go. I was actually quite excited to see 'Alice In Wonderland', as I loved the original Disney cartoon (TOTAL stoner film!), and both books.

It was alright. Not awful, not great. Just alright.

As a visual spectacle it was pretty impressive, especially in 3D - not quite on the same level as Avatar visually, though. The story seemed as though it was intended as a loose sequel to the first book by looks of things - at least, it doesn't seem to reference 'Through The Looking Glass' too heavily. It HAS been a while since I read it, mind. I must say, the plot left me a little cold - as someone rightly pointed out, they just seemed to bleach all of the personality out of the characters, and reduce them to boring heroic Hollywood archetypes.

The Mad Hatter was the only character that they seemed interested in fleshing out - as a result, Depp was actually able to wring a surprisingly good performance out of this flim.

Albatross wrote:I REALLY wanted to see Green Zone, but I was with the missus, so that was a no-go. I was actually quite excited to see 'Alice In Wonderland', as I loved the original Disney cartoon (TOTAL stoner film!), and both books.

Green Zone is a really good movie. Fair warning, it puts its politics right out in front, so if you don’t like being reminded that people told lies in build up to Iraq then it might bother you, but it is a really slick thriller.

As a visual spectacle it was pretty impressive, especially in 3D - not quite on the same level as Avatar visually, though. The story seemed as though it was intended as a loose sequel to the first book by looks of things - at least, it doesn't seem to reference 'Through The Looking Glass' too heavily.

Like a lot of Alice in Wonderland productions it took bits and pieces from both. The White and Red Queens were from Through the Looking Glass (though the Red Queen dropped her chess motif and took on the playing cards of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland), as were the Jabberwocky, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

It HAS been a while since I read it, mind. I must say, the plot left me a little cold - as someone rightly pointed out, they just seemed to bleach all of the personality out of the characters, and reduce them to boring heroic Hollywood archetypes.

Yeah, this was my big problem with it. Alice in Wonderland can be silly, can be subversive, can be a whacked out drug trip. I don’t think it can really work as an heroic journey in which a young girl learns to believe in herself and reject a marriage proposal from an ugly guy.

Or maybe it could, and just didn’t work here because the script was so humourless.

The Mad Hatter was the only character that they seemed interested in fleshing out - as a result, Depp was actually able to wring a surprisingly good performance out of this flim.

I found his character floundered, caught between the idea of the crazy mad hatter we know and the hero the script needed him to be. And why did he keep breaking into an Irish accent?

For what it was supposed to be (A silly acid trip type world) it was awful. But as an action/adventure movie, I didn't think it was half-bad. It was very dark, and very out-of-place for an Alice in Wonderland movie, although as others have said, many of the characters have virtually no personality or originality whatsoever. The Mad Hatter wasn't a bad character, and I admit it was entertaining to watch the Red Queen, but most of the other characters were very blah. And was it just me, or did Alice never change expression throughout the entire film? It seemed like she always had that look of "Why am I doing this movie?"

As for the various references to the books, sebster got it spot on AFAIK. The Red and White queens were both from Through the Looking Glass, though the book centered both of them around a chess theme. The playing cards come from the first book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Same with that introduction sequence of falling down the rabbit hole, drinking the shrinking potion and eating the cake. The Jabberwocky, Tweedledee and Tweedledum all came from Through the Looking Glass, while the animal companions came from the first book. They may have shown up in the second - I never actually read it all the way through - but their first appearance was in the first one.

So, as an Alice in Wonderland movie? 2/10 (At least the Hatter was interesting, and the Queen was entertaining). As an action/adventure film? I'd probably give it at least a 5 for that, given that it's a very dark and somber movie most of the time, and the ending sequence between the two armies was kind of epic.

The girl with the dragon tat is actually supposed to be good, but what a fething awful title!

Ah, yes - I haven't read 'Looking-glass' for years. It's because all that stuff appears in the first Disney cartoon that I'm getting mixed up...

sebster wrote:I found his character floundered, caught between the idea of the crazy mad hatter we know and the hero the script needed him to be. And why did he keep breaking into an Irish accent?

Scottish (Glaswegian, to be exact), I think.
I heard an interview with Depp in which he said he was looing to portray the Hatter as struggling with his madness - but you're right, he DID feel disjointed. For me, he was just the best of a mediocre bunch. But then, I love Johnny Depp. I could watch him in anything.

Albatross wrote:Scottish (Glaswegian, to be exact), I think.

Is that what it was supposed to be? Okay.

I heard an interview with Depp in which he said he was looing to portray the Hatter as struggling with his madness - but you're right, he DID feel disjointed. For me, he was just the best of a mediocre bunch. But then, I love Johnny Depp. I could watch him in anything.

Yeah, I think his character was a weakness of the movie, but I don't think it was his fault. It was an issue with the film straddling this line between whimsical crazy characters and Hollywood action adventure movie, which left Depp trying to make an interesting character while switching between whimsy and anguished hero.

If it was an original creation and not Alice in Wonderland, or just a better script it might have worked - Depp certainly has the chops for it.

I'm absolutely loath to see it, as I love the Alice books.

A bunch of my colleagues went to see it, and loved it and Depp. They felt the accent was surprisingly authentic - and they should know, as they're all Glaswegian. On the other hand, they're women, so therefore blinded by the Depp. What galls me more is that they're English teachers, but seem unconcerned about how the source is ridden over rough-shod. Ah well.

On the other hand, I think it's fun that Disney is so proudly supporting the work of a middle-aged pederast (Carroll, not Burton, that is).

I dislike Burton because its what all of the kids who are "edgy" think is amazing. Those same people who think that shopping at Hot Topic is also edgy. I prefer Raimy, except for Spiderman 3 which was a little off for me.

halonachos wrote:I dislike Burton because its what all of the kids who are "edgy" think is amazing. Those same people who think that shopping at Hot Topic is also edgy.

You base your opinions on art on spite? Wouldn't it better to base them on the actual merits of the film?

I prefer Raimy, except for Spiderman 3 which was a little off for me.

It's Raimi, and he's also hit and miss.