Goolphipp Award: 4.3 (No Peanuts Chucked)
Where we stand: Excited fan and general watcher
Goolsby:
Call me the excited fan. I love Alice in Wonderland. When I was about six, my parents bought me an Alice dress from Disneyland, and I never understood why my hair couldn't be blond like hers. I love the story, and I love the characters. I was prepared to hate this film after my bad experience with Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So I was prepared for the worst. Turns out I didn't need to be so worried...
Phipps:
Honestly, I was never a big fan of Alice. I liked one scene from the Disney movie - the singing flowers. Apart from Goolsby, I doubt I would have seen the movie. From the start, I worried about the abundance of CGI-ness. I like seeing real sky. And, at the end of day, I'm not a fan of Tim Burton. There are very few of his movies that capture my fancy.
Audience: Family with discretion
Goolsby:
I think this movie might be a bit scary for small jumpy kids. I think it's fine for most families, but you never know. So fantasy fighting with monsters and what not.
Phipps:
Yeah, I agree, there are scary monsters and weird looking folks in this movie. Take your kid's personality into account. I'd say the 8-10 bracket of kids is the youngest you should go.
Special effects: Intense
Goolsby:
This movie was dark. The color scheme was dreary which is such a huge difference from what I grew up loving. The punches of color that the movie did have stuck out like headlights, which created an odd color palette. I loved the coloring and movement of the Cheshire Cat, it was on point the whole time. Johnny Depp's contacts were a bit distracting at times, but well done. I did notice the March Hare was a bit strange. He was completely animated and didn't look as well done as the White Rabbit. We did not see the movie in 3D so I cant comment on that aspect, but I have a feeling 3D would be great with this movie.
Phipps:
I was prepared for this movie to be all green screen, and I wasn't disappointed. It was done well. Most of the animation fit together seamlessly. I won't lie, I'm not a fan of green screen movies, but I suppose it was almost necessary in this case for all the wonderland-like components. I think the most successful integration was the work on the Red Queen, who sported a cranium the size of Jupiter - which probably allowed her to steal every scene she appeared in.
Story and continuity: Return to Wonderland
Goolsby:
Sometimes sequels or return movies feel strained or stretched. That wasn't the case of this movie. I appreciated that Alice refused to accept the fact that she was the "right" Alice. The one big complaint that I have with the movie is that I wanted it to return to the bright vivid colors. Once the White Queen came to power I wanted some type of magical transformation to happen in Wonderland. I wanted the colors that I grew up with to come back.
Phipps:
Storywise, I'm glad it was absolutely stressed before Alice was released that it was a sequel, which gauranteed that nobody was sitting there confused. The movie itself was action-packed. And while I don't think I'll ever own this movie, I wasn't bored. I had fun exploring Tim Burton's interpretation of Wonderland. I was wondering why the White Queen never lowered her arms though, she walked around with them slightly raised and away from her body. Reminded me of a ballerina meets space cadet. At any rate, I liked the story and how it developed. Character development was also good. I don't really have any complaints in this area.
What was the best: Cats and Clothes
Goolsby:
As I mentioned, I loved the Cheshire Cat. It was the attention to small detail that I really enjoyed in the film. The Cheshire Cat would be used as a shield by other characters then disappear. Loved it. I think the film did a great job keep all the small bits going. I also enjoyed the throwbacks to the original film -the flamingos and hedge hog made me smile.
Phipps:
Hands down, I loved how they dealt with Alice's clothes. It does stand to reason that Alice's clothes wouldn't grow or shrink with her, and with each resizing, she got a new dress. I thought that was quite clever...and it made for interesting dialogue and situations. A close second is the Red Queen herself. What a character. I have to agree with the rest of the world - Helena Bonham Carter is the real star of this movie.
Goolsby overall: 4.75
Call me an elitist if you want... almost perfect.
Phipps overall: 4
I like seeing real skies. Not my cup of tea (pun intended).
Goolphipp Award: 4.3 (No Peanuts Chucked)
