Some thoughts just short of a review

Spoiler alert!

We saw Alice in Wonderland and the first thing I want to say is- don't avoid the books because you "saw the movie". They are not the same. This is actually based more on the nonsense poem Jabberwocky from Through the Looking Glass, but it has familiar (but not all) characters from Alice in Wonderland. The movie diverges from both Looking Glass and Wonderland.

The books are much richer in a literary and a philosophical sense and Carroll's use of language is all but lost in this. Most of my favorite lines and passages are missing in action, especially from the Cheshire Cat. One discerns the influence of the original illustrator of the book, John Tenniel, on the visual design of the movie. Some of the scenes derive directly from Tenniel's pen.

That being said, it is still wonderful cinema and visually stunning. This wonderland is much more gothic and dark, first of all from Burton's vision and secondly as it borrows from the themes covered in stories such as Lewis' The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe or other stories that feature an evil queen who devastates the land after deposing the good sister.

Johnny Depp steals the show, but the other actors are exceptional as well. I especially liked Mia Wasikowska as Alice, and the maniacal if conflicted Red Queen played by Helena Bonham Carter. Anne Hathaway as White Queen was a bit irksome and contrived. Blue Caterpillar by Alan Rickman added a nice touch.

As for the CGI effects, they missed big time on the horse animation, I thought. Some of the 3D effects didn't work for me either- seemed pointless. The lack of differentiation in the Army of Cards was noticeably disconcerting as well.

And one more thing. I would have rather seen Mock Turtle (who was altogether missing) dance his dance than the Hatter doing the futterwacken, which was extraneous and contrived.