alice in wonderland (m23)

Tim burton. Alice, a 19 year old, who is being proposed to by a toad, takes a time out to fall down the rabbit hole. entrance into underland is achieved by eating and drinking potion and cake that make her small enough to enter. she enters to discover that people question whether she is really THE alice. things are kind of slow, even though she is attacked by a giant dog like creature, until she visits the mad hatter, played by johnny depp. it seems that when alice was younger she used to visit there often and people have been waiting for her return. she is part of a prophecy that she will kill a giant monster called the Jabberwocky, which in fact she has to do in behalf of the white queen, against the red queen played by helena bonham carter. the red queen has a large head and she is imperious, always yelling off with her head. alice, a little too large visits the red queen's palace trying to save the mad hatter who had sacrificed himself earlier on her behalf. the mad hatter designs hats to try to please the red queen. he is slightly mad. he hates the queen for she is to blame for some slaughter or imbalance. when the red queen recognizes alice for who she is alice, must flee and she takes a special sword with her. there is an attempt to behead the mad hatter but the cheshire cat comes to the rescue and the beheading is not successful. a battle between the jabberwocky fighting on behalf of the red queen and alice fighting on behalf of the white queen (anne hathaway) takes place. alice girds herself by saying that she thinks of six impossible things before breakfast. and she slays the monster and everyone now is loyal to the white queen and the red queen and her squire are sent to exile and alice returns to real life. where she now has the strength to say no to the proposal from the toad and to embark on a life as an independent 21st century woman even though it is only the 19th century.

B/B+

many elements are involved besides women's liberation and self confidence and such. there are many references to the wizard of oz and the importance of dreams.
burton's best which include beetlejuice, scissorhands, batman with de vito. and nightmare before christmas, plus ed wood is joined by this. which is superior to most of his recent (last ten years efforts)

alice is a bit colorless, but so she is certainly the disney alice is rather colorless and she is surrounded by such craziness. even anne hathaway as the white queen seems a bit mad, so much moreso johnny depp and the red queen and the squire (crispin glover, with his first decent role in so long) plus the cheshire cat and the caterpillar and all the intrigues of the red queen's palace full of toadies (who wear masks and costumes, so as to pretend that they are disfigured in some ways to match the red queen's bulbous head disfigurement.)