'Alice in Wonderland' is a huge hit, but is Tim Burton struggling to hold onto his creepy-cool imagination?

Tags: Alice in Wonderland, Batman, Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, Johnny Depp

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Back in the mid-’90s, I was having a drink with a prominent filmmaker who had risen up in the indie movement, and we started to Read the full post.

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DAVID HOFFSON
Fri 06/11/10 7:05 PM

ALICE IN WONDERLAND IS HIT AND HIS HIT MOVIES GOT TIM BURTON WERE HE IS NOW. FOR HOW LONG YOU DO NOT KNOW BUT TIME WILL TELL THAT

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DAVID HOFFSON
Sun 06/13/10 11:39 AM

WHAT MAKE’S ALICE IN WONDERLAND DIFFERT FROM THE PAST ALICE IN WONDERLAND MOVIE’S AND T.V. MOVIES IS THAT NEW LOOK TO IT THAT IT NEVER HAD BEFORE JUST LIKE TIM BURTON’S MOVIES NEVER LOOK LIKE IT BEFORE.NOW HE CAN DO BOTH KIND’S OF MOVIE’S FROM NOW ON THEN IN HIS PAST MOVIES. HE IS NOW AT THE TOP TO DO BOTH KIND’S OF MOVIES

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Simon
Fri 12/03/10 7:07 PM

At the very least, I hope this thoughtful piece moves a few people to see “Ed Wood,” one of my favorite movies of the last 20 years. I just finished watching “Alice,” and despite its occasional visual charms (and some lovely acting), I found it a dispiriting mess. Burton only deserves part of the blame, however; the script had a rushed, madly overstuffed quality, like a tour of the Lewis Carroll museum taken at a sprint — quick, throw in the Jub-Jub Bird! — and it strained at times to make teen Alice seem contemporary. The ending, in particular, felt like a ribbon tied around a puddle. And though Johnny Depp’s ample charisma is undeniable, he and Burton seem to repurpose the Hatter character every five minutes: Is he dotty comedic relief with an English accent, or a militant foe of the Red Queen with a Scottish burr? An action hero or a melancholy dream-friend? He fluctuates more frequently than the Cheshire Cat.

The real culprit is a business desperately pursuing the pocket change of overstimulated kiddies and figuring the rest of us will be dragged long, our enjoyment (and the narrative’s coherence) be damned. Tim Burton is a hugely inventive filmmaker who has found a way to make a fortune riding that freight train, and I don’t begrudge him his success. But I’d love to see him make another grown-up movie in the intimate, rules-breaking spirit of “Ed Wood.”

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