Alice In
Wonderland (2010/2-D Version/Tim
Burton/Disney Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B+ Extras: D Feature: D
It has
been a long time since Tim Burton had a hit and since he massacred Planet Of The Apes in 2001, his career
has rightly been in freefall. So here
comes the 3-D craze and Disney decides to take advantage of it. Burton’s
style used to be one of individualistic style and eccentricity, but it
eventually became a predictable style and a spoof of itself, resulting in the
director painting himself in a corner.
With Alice In Wonderland,
they chopped up a classic and managed to pump it up into an artificial hit.
Lewis
Carroll’s classic has already been overdone as much as Robin Hood, but here we
go again. When Disney put it in
theaters, they did with two interesting twists.
1) They hid it from most critics and 2) They limited it only 12 weeks in
theaters as if they were protecting some buried treasure. Well, this should have been buried all right,
but it got booked worldwide though one big chain in the U.K. first said
no.
Mia
Wasikowska is the latest of a long line of usually forgettable actresses to
take on the title role and though she fits the bill, there is nothing distinct
about her Alice
and we spend 109 agonizing minutes going through the same old story with
her. Then the ‘trip’ becomes more
familiar than ever as we see living playing cards, the evil queen, Cheshire Cat
and oh look, another obligatory appearance by Helena Bonham Carter and over
there, its…. Oh, Johnny Depp! We could have never imagined he’d show
up. And the classic characters have been
“reimagined” (Burton-speak for mutilated and destroyed) as puffy digital CGI
renderings of the originals.
For
having a PG rating, this is a little more violent than you would think, so this
is not the usual child-friendly Disney release, but Burton’s work never is. Crispin Glover also turns up to increase the
creepy factor, but to no avail. This
version just turns out to be an extremely tired rehash of the same old tale decorated
in the latest bells and whistles. Too
bad, because the older Burton
could have made this decent, but he is so bored, he just does not care
anymore. Neither should you.
The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image was originally conceived to be 3-D and
no matter what that looks like, this 2-D edition is softer than we could have
ever imagined, with digital effects and video behind Avatar, Pixar and
DreamWorks. Even color is underwhelming. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix
is the default highlight of the disc with a strong soundfield throughout and
Danny Elfman’s usual “stomach-pumper of wonderment” composing style he saves
for most of his works. It will make an
interesting comparison to the 3-D version whenever that rolls around.
Extras on
a bonus DVD, Digital Copy for PC and PC portable devices, BD Live interactive
features, a Making Of piece in six parts and six character pieces.
- Nicholas Sheffo
