October 28, 2008
A New "Alice in Wonderland"?
Oh sure . . . when they say Rickman is in it, now she gets excited!
I feel the need to start out here by announcing that, as a general rule, I normally don't go for remakes. "Re-imaginings" usually end up feeling like re-hashings, adding little value to the original film except maybe a few new CGI effects and whatever actor is particularly popular at the time (be that good or bad). I'm also particularly opposed to prequels and for-the-money sequels, but that's a different article entirely. But recently, I've been hearing little blurbs about a new Alice In Wonderland movie, slated for a 2010 release, that has got my interest more than piqued. Now the idea of making another Alice In Wonderland doesn't particularly excite me in and of itself, but the more I hear about this the more excited I get. I'm not bubbling over with glee just yet, but I'm getting close. Here's why:
Tim Burton
If you were to quiz me on which directors I personally felt were infallible, Tim Burton would be high up on the list. If his name is on it, there's a pretty good chance that I'm going to like it. Maybe it's the gloomy tone of his pictures, or his brilliantly dark imagination, or maybe just his devil-may-care hairstyle that seems to personify the feel of a Tim Burton movie, but there's some sort of gut reaction in me that hears his name and causes me to immediately search my wallet for ticket money. Now, does that make me ultra-susceptible to a cheap marketing scheme? Maybe. But so far in his directorial endeavors, I've yet to be really disappointed.
And let's not forget his successes with "children's stories" in the past: Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, all hits in their own right that line up to a pretty impressive track record for Mr. Burton. And of course, he's the master of making kids' stories incredibly entertaining for adults as well; not even Pixar can match his appeal with the more mature crowd. (But I guess if Pixar churned out an Ed Wood once in a while, they'd be a much different studio indeed.)
The Cast
Let me just rattle off a few of the confirmed cast: Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter (unsurprising), Crispin Glover, Anne Hathaway, Frances de la Tour. Not bad so far...now lets add in the "unconfirmed" Christopher Lee and Alan Rickman; yeah, I just peed a little too. I've heard some say already, "With such an all-star cast, how can you go wrong?" Well, monklets, I am not quite that naive. Most of us know that even fantastic actors can really blow if they've got bad material. (see: any Uwe Boll movie) Even a crew of this caliber needs something to work with. And they've got Tim Fucking Burton to work with. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter seems so perfect it could almost be cliche; Carter as the "off with her head" Red Queen is equally fitting. Rickman is rumored to take on the role of the trippy smoking caterpillar, while Christopher Lee's role is still undisclosed. Matt Lucas will take on the double-duty of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum; you might recognize him from his short stints on Little Britain, Gavin & Stacy, and Kath & Kim, unless you don't get BBC in which case you might never have seen him at all.
The role of Alice is going to be handled by relative unknown Mia Wasikowska, an 18-year-old Australian with some TV credits and a move called Rogue Crocodile. You might also see her sometime in '09 in the upcoming biopic Amelia about the life of Amelia Earhart (alongside Hilary Swank, Ewan McGregor, Richard Gere, and Christopher Eccleston). Check out her role as Sophie in In Treatment; she's not bad for a kid, and I'm willing to give her a shot as a convincing Alice.
The Screenplay
One of the biggest issues with adapting a book to a movie is getting a good screenplay. Seems pretty obvious, no? And leave it to Mr. Producer to recruit all-star Linda Woolverton. Maybe she's not known for especially dark themes and adult audiences...or is she? She was the writer behind a little movie called The Lion King, after all. Add to her credits Beauty and the Beast for screen and stage, Mulan, and a Tony nomination, and I'll give her a nod as a fine candidate to write a decent children's flick.
Now not everything about this movie has me raving. Wikipedia claims that it's going to be a 3-D movie, and IMDB calls it a live-action and CGI film. I'm not positive what this might mean for the film overall, but I just keep thinking Beowulf. This isn't enough to dissuade me, however; my official monkey opinion says it's worth a shot. We'll see what new bits get released over the course of the next, oh, 18 months or so, and you can bet your booty that I'll keep you posted.