This new spin on C.S Lewis’s beloved classic, Alice in Wonderland has been transformed into something quite different than expected. This film is more of a sequel than a remake as it follows an entirely different plotline with many obvious references to other famous C.S Lewis works. I thought the weaving of the Jabberwocky (a well-known C.S Lewis poem) into this new Alice to be slightly bizarre and awkward and very far from the author’s original intention. However I still enjoyed the many perks of this quirky Tim Burton film.
Many of Tim Burton’s obvious trademarks are shown clearly throughout the film, twisted branches, dark themes, though the entirety of the film is not as dark as we have come to know Tim Burton works to be. There is a lot of light and shade in this movie, both literally and figuratively. The colours in the beginning are surprisingly bright and cheerful as we see Alice outside in her normal surroundings. Then the dark and twisted setting comes into play when Alice falls down the rabbit hole into the bizarre world of “Underland”. A dark and gloomy sky above and the twisted, dead spiral branches of trees can be seen as we cross into this magical world through the tiny door in the corridor at the bottom of the rabbit hole. It is only at this point that it can be recognised as a Tim Burton film as the beginning bares no real resemblance to his other works.
