Stop.Frame

This is a bit off-topic for Stop.Frame, given that Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland is a part live action and part digitally animated movie, but what the heck. Here’s my two-minute critique (warning: spoilers ahead).

I did enjoy it – certainly much more than the other high-profile 3D movie phenomenon everyone has been talking about. In fact Avatar‘s script weaknesses went a long way towards offsetting its spectacular visual world-building. Alice in Wonderland had much better writing and was in its way more interesting to look at.

But for heaven’s sake – can fantasy film-making never escape the hand of Peter Jackson? First Alice wanders in a blasted landscape on her quest to rescue the Mad Hatter from the evil Sauron Red Queen, then she has to jump from one giant dead floating head to another to get across a stagnant moat. It’s Mordor all over again, from the ruined land to the dead marshes.

When the Jabberwock appears, it’s with a piercing scream straight from the creatures ridden by the Nazgûl in the battle for Minas Tirith. And there’s Alice doing battle on one of the ruined battlements, just like Aragorn (only a bit prettier) all in the service of Galadriel. Oops, I mean the White Queen. Oh dear – Lord of the Rings was a titanic achievement, but please can we move on now?

I also find myself in the awkward position of having to agree with something said by motormouth film critic Mark Kermode.

He hates 3D – in fact he’s made himself a pair of “un-3D” glasses to take the effect away. He pretty much argues that it’s a pointless frippery that takes away from the real purpose of film – telling stories – and adds nothing to the visual experience.

And after seeing Alice in Wonderland in 3D, I can only say he’s right. It would have been just as visually striking, and more comfortable to watch, without having to perch a pair of cheap plastic specs on your nose.

(I also thought this about Coraline. I’d have been quite happy to see that in plain ol’ 2D too – I’m pretty sure it would be just as effective.)

Slightly more on-topic – the animation is terrific. I loved Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and the Cheshire cat was a triumph. I was also taken with the flying rocking horse insects that appeared from time to time. Great stuff.

Which all goes to show that you need more than cutting edge technology to create fascinating and engaging characters. After all, Lewis Carroll first came up with them in 1865…