All Things Transcription

This weekend I took my daughter and one of her friends to see Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.” I have yet to see a Tim Burton film I did not like, starting with “James and the Giant Peach.” This one did not change that opinion. This is a 3-D film.

Follow up:

First, let me say that if you are looking for the original “Alice in Wonderland” you will be disappointed. In this version, Alice is all grown up. Of course, you will find many reviews that pan the movie because of this fact. Consider the source. This is the same group of people that view a movie based on a novel or comic book and dislike it immediately if it deviates one iota from the original work. If this is you, do not waste your money. However, if you appreciate originality go ahead and see it.

The next drawback is the price. I was a little startled at how much it was to see this film. No matinee discount for this one. You pay quite a bit for the glasses. It was almost $30.00 for the three of us. Ultimately it did not matter. My daughter requested this outing for her birthday as soon as we heard about it last year. It turned out that it was well worth the price.

I was a little worried in the beginning. It is a little slow starting out; even the first sequence of falling down the hole is not quite what it could be. However, it picks up quickly. Overall, the effects are pretty spectacular even though I thought it could have been a little bit better as far as the 3-D effects themselves are concerned. Having said this, there were many of them that were excellent. Yes, I ducked when the March Hare was throwing things. The best one came at the end, but I won’t spoil it for you because it was really spectacular.

As far as the cast goes, all turned in some fabulous performances. Johnny Depp is absolutely incredible in the role of the Mad Hatter. (Okay, I personally feel that Mr. Depp can do no wrong. I have a bad case of fan girl-itis over him. Always have, always will. I am not ashamed.) Anne Hathaway turned in a great performance as the White Queen. Her hand gestures alone are incredibly funny. Helen Bonham-Carter was great as the bulbous-headed Red Queen. Ditto for all the voice characterizations, they were spot on.

All in all, this was a great way to spend 1 hour and 49 minutes. It was visually spectacular, had some really great performances and Tim Burton’s incomparable imagination.

This film is rated PG and I would not recommend it for the under 5 set. There are some things that might be pretty scary for them. I did see a couple of children that were younger than this and they seemed to be enthralled with it. (They ducked too.) You know your child so you make the call. If they scare easily, stick to the Disney animated version of “Alice.”