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Rating:
An absolute crap.
Tim Burton is (or was) a genius. There's no need to recall the glory of his early career. But how long has it been since he last produced a noteworthy film?
Perhaps not since Big Fish, if we're being very generous.
The rest is a dearth of ideas. A relentless drift that lately seems to involve other authors as well. The author of this review has yet to forgive Terry Gilliam for the questionable "The Brothers Grimm" and the latest "Parnassus."
However, in that case, the two disappointing auteur films were punctuated by the splendid "Tideland." Terry still has credit.
But let's talk about Alice.
The film deviates from Carroll's story, and this wouldn't be a problem in itself if the screenplay were bold and incisive. The problem is that it simply doesn't exist: the plot doesn't capture, the dialogues are superfluous. The emotion, it goes without saying, never arises.
The characterization of the characters and the acting skills of the performers should benefit from the positive influence of a great director. Burton's caricatures don't even try. Not a single memorable figure in this chorus of sweet, useless caricatures as the action unfolds.
Every comparison with any character from the 50-year-old cartoon is a losing one.
This is B-grade fantasy.
The nostalgia we feel when thinking of true '80s fantasy, from "Back to the Future" to "Ladyhawke", is profound as we leave the cinema.
Especially when before the film starts a trailer for another 3D crap in the making, foreshadowing the devastation of another masterpiece: "Tron".
To the admirers of this director, who will remain such regardless, I ask one thing:
What will you remember about this film?
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