Best Remake Ever – Alice In Wonderland

Closing its theatrical release with figures of $1,024,299,904 – the 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland can be rightfully tagged as the best remake ever. The box office gross of the film puts it on the 11^th place among the highest grossing films of all times just behind by some $3 M to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Contributing to the great box office appeal of the film were the actors and actresses who gave life to the characters of Lewis Caroll’s 1865 fantasy novel entitled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Leading the great ensemble of casts were Mia Wasikowska as Alice Kingsleigh, Johny Depp as The Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, and Matt Lucas as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Other actors also graced the film by lending their voices to the animated characters. For instance, Michael Sheen voiced the White Rabbit as Alan Rickman voiced Absolem the Caterpillar.

The 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland is also fantastic due to its recreation of the original story. The novel and even the previous films and animations always portray Alice as a child. This version by Tim Burton had Alice as a 19 year-old girl. The adventure mood of the film starts when Alice returns to Wonderland 13 years after she first set her feet on the land. Surprisingly, the film named the place as Underland, contrary to other version’s naming as Wonderland. This was apparently due to the young age of Alice when she first came to the place, causing her to misheard the fantasyland's name.

The personal inputs of the casts to the characters they portrayed also made the film a very valuable remake. As an example, Johnny Depp (The Mad Hatter) chooses to portray his character with orange hair as an apparent effect of mercury poisoning. From the pages of Caroll’s books, the film can be viewed as one that implies social and political relevance (at least to those who can analyze its presence). It is more than just a mere revamp of the characters that were modernized by computer-generated imagery and other 3D visual effects. The personifications of the story’s characters turned the film into a representation of fashion statements that go beyond the imaginations of ordinary persons. The costume designs provided insights as to what can possibly dress people of the future.

Turning Alice into a grown-up savior cum warrior who can ultimately defeat the Jabberwock is a very impressive attempt to unravel the roles of woman in the society – of which many other persons who have seen the movie might contradict. Both Carter (Red Queen) and Hathaway (White Queen) were also impressive representations of the woman’s role in leadership and decision-making. At least, even in the times of Caroll, there were already attempts to make the public realize the essence of women in the society. They are more than just individuals who can be wives and second-leads to men. Tim Burton successfully transferred Caroll’s ideas of how women can be powerful enough to have control of a particular domain.  Wasikowska, in the film, is also a perfect representation of how ordinary people can make big changes. And if Alice and the viewers are to learn a lesson, it would be Not to run away from any problem because an escape might just be a trap to further problems. Remember that Alice fell into the rabbit hole this time because she doesn’t want to face an arranged marriage.

In conclusion, I give Alice in Wonderland a perfect 5-star rating for being an example of a modern fairy tale that is far beyond computers and animations. It is entertaining, visually fantastic, and one that offers values to be learned making it worthy of the amount that were spent by the movie goers when it was shown at cinemas. These days, it is a good catch on DVDs and cable movie channels. Viewers are clamoring for a second installment that would possibly bring more reimaginations and revamps to the original story.