Iffy for 10+
All-new 3-D Alice story is trippy and intense.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland might be rated PG, but it's pretty intense and scary at times for younger kids, especially because it's in 3-D. This trippy adaptation -- in which Alice is a young adult -- includes some fantasy violence with scary monsters that attack people, a cruel Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who frequently sentences people to death, and a climactic battle scene between sword-brandishing humans, animals, and beasts. Some parents might want to know that a caterpillar (played by Alan Rickman) smokes a hookah, but this is as Lewis Carroll depicted the character. The language includes taunting insults like "stupid," "imbecile," "idiot," "bloody," and the like, and the sexuality is limited to one kiss between a married man and another woman and some aggressive flirting.
- Families can talk about Alice's nonconformist attitude. How does she buck cultural expecations? In what ways does her adventure in "Underland" change Alice?
- What do you think about Mr. Kingsleigh, and later Alice's adage that "all the best people" are a bit "mad"? What do you think the Mad Hatter means that things are only impossible if you believe them to be?
- The Red Queen is cruel but sad. What are some reasons she's so mean? Are there compelling reasons to be angry at her younger sister, the White Queen?
- Those familiar with the Lewis Carroll books: Compare this version with the original source and other adaptations. Do you like this Alice as a much older heroine?
The good stuff
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Messages: The Red Queen's cruelty, jealousy, and insecurity end up costing her everything, proving that she's wrong when she asserts that it's "better to be feared than to be loved." Alice and her Underland friends are all loyal to each other and to the cause of overthrowing the evil Red Queen -- all are willing to make sacrifices to ensure that the Red Queen is defeated. Alice confirms the belief that to dream, to believe in the impossible, to believe in your own abilities and potential, is actually a very wise thing to do.
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Role models: Alice, like all heroes, must learn to believe in herself to finally defeat the Jabberwocky and save Underland from the tyranny of the Red Queen. She's an excellent example to young girls, because she doesn't follow her sister and mother's advice to rely on her looks to land a high-class husband. Instead, she trusts her instincts and confronts her fears to emerge a powerful champion, a defeater of evil, a friend and ally to an entire world. And when she returns to regular London, she makes a decision that goes against cultural norms of her day, but that is ultimately much better for her future.
What to watch for
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Violence: The Red Queen is quite bloodthirsty and frequently sentences people to death, yelling "Off with their heads!" She makes comments like "I love morning execution, don't you?" and sends scary creatures to do her bidding. A scary dog-like creature called the Bandersnatch suddenly attacks, chasing and pouncing on the Tweedle twins. Since these sequences are in 3-D, they're especially intense. There's a moat filled with cut-off heads and potions filled with severed fingers. People are scratched and nearly killed, an executioner is shown about to lower the axe on someone, and in the end, a creature is decaptitated.
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Sex: Alice catches her brother-in-law kissing a woman who's not his wife; Alice and Hamish dance, and he proposes to her. The Knave of Hearts pushes an overgrown Alice against a wall and says he likes her, because he likes "largeness." The Red Queen acts smitten with the Knave of Hearts.
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Language: Mild taunts and insults like "imbeciles," "idiots," "bloody" (in the British sense), "stupid," "big head," "lunatic," and "fat."
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Consumerism: Not an issue
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Drinking, drugs and smoking: Absalom the smoking caterpillar does just that -- smoke a hookah -- in three different scenes. The Red Queen and her court seem to drink something that looks like wine at a meal.
Fan Reviews provided by
1
Waste of money and time by Seanier84
Big waste of time. The two people I had with me both fell asleep. The visuals are entertaining, but that was all that kept me in the theater. Watch "Through the Looking Glass" and you'll be much more satisfied.
4
really guys?! by izzie_2011
Okay first off he was not smoking something, DUR!! In case you've never **2**/atter what movie, so you should have at least enjoyed that. If you're so disappointed you should've read more into the movie before you saw it. The desription of the movie is what you're gonna get. Plus, don't you remember the original Alice In Wonderland, it's just as freaky for a kids movie. All of you should be ashamed for writing such bad reviews about a good movie.
5
Alice In Wonderland by thedennis
A fantastic romp thru Lewis Carroll's imagination brought "to life" by Tim Burton. Right away, I say go see it. It's a hoot, especially in 3D. That's all. 'Nuff said.
Oh, for the record.........."LOVED THE CHESHIRE CAT !"
2
Alice in Wonderland by cappie82
In my opinion,it was just,.okay.While having the potential for being great,it just seemed lacking,especially in plot.I mean yes there was a plot,of sorts, but it seemed thought up by an 8 year old.When I think of a Disney movie,I usually think of something that's magical,captivating & timeless. But this,for me anyway,was sadly a let down & unfortunately somewhat forgettable.Though I guess I'd rather while away time by watching this movie to,than to watch ants trek back & forth to their little nest,gathering their food for winter.I don't know, perhaps I'd have been more entertained if I'd seen it in IMAX 3D ,though I doubt it.There are,however,some positive aspects to this film.The cast was a wonderful pick,though a waste of superb talents.And the imagery was quite colorful,unique.All in all,If you've been waiting for this movie to visit your theater & it's finally arrived,but you've not had a chance to see it yet,save your money,& rent the video.It might be less waste of your money
1
Alice in Wonderland by SanDiegoShowBizGal
So disappointing. So dark. Everyone was ugly and sad with dark circles under their eyes. The 3-D was relentless and yet uninteresting. Some of the scarier animals (dragons) looked like gamer animations. The amusing and clever Louis Carroll dialogue was tossed out in favor of updated dialogue which was veddy British and sometimes garbeled. I couldn't wait to flee the theater. Was exhausted by the time it was over.
The feel bad movie of the year.
3
A good movie... by dav_cortez
Alice in Wonderland (2010) was a good movie. The visual effects were awesome, and the plot was okay. It was a little boring to be honest. So overall, I think it's a "So-so" movie.
2
Huge Yawn... by KJBunn
I feel that the movie was somewhat misrepresented in its advertising. It is colorless, nearly humorless, flat and though the artwork was fantastical, it was still gray and gloomy like most Tim Burton work. To some degree, the artwork was not crisp but fuzzy as if they were trying to hide effects that didn't quite work. Johnny Depp was, for the first time, ineffective. It would be nice if Tim Burton would work a little harder on creating a solid story before adding so much detail to his movies. This is like drawing a character starting with the hair rather than creating shape and volume of the character itself first and then adding the hair and clothing.
Overall -- quite disappointing.
4
19th century YUM! by moonstar1231
Johnny Depp & the whole cast really bring together a great twist on the story that I liked better than the cartoon! The details were exquisite and so FUNNY
1
Alice in Wonderland: Not as great as I thought... by MHedrick
I did not think Alice in Wonderland was anywhere near as great as I had predicted. This is definetly a movie I would have waited to see on DVD if possible. The effects were so-so... the imagery was so-so, as well. I was not impressed.
The storyline was predictable and seemed to be a self-discovery story... unlike the book. I just wasn't into it... it kept going and going and going. In fact, several people got up and walked out of the movie right in the middle.
Wait until it comes out on DVD!
Madison
5
A Masterpiece by shamrock227
I was very pleasantly surprised about how absolutely terrific this movie was. This was everything you'd expect from Tim Burton and more. Sometimes creepy, sometimes funny, sometimes a little gross, and generally surreal. Wonderland was visually spectacular with great attention to every aspect, even background details.
Alice in Wonderland is Tim Burton at the top of his game. Each of the actors gave their all which made it very easy to care for the characters and their fates. The story was both engaging and engrossing.
I enjoyed it so much that I may go see it again before it leaves the theaters and I will most definitely be buying the DVD.
I don't have children so I may not be the best judge of its appropriateness for them, but I would avoid bringing younger children as I think parts of this movie would be too intense and scary for them.