Alice's Misadventures in Wonderland (2004) User Reviews

Too Serious

[shakingcliches · 8/10 · 30 July 2005]

So many of the comments about this movie are way too serious.

There are at least two comments to the effect that Carroll's tale was ruined. Well I would argue that the spirit of the original is definitely intact. It is all absurd, it is not a series of inside jokes (and if it is they still play funny to me the uninitiated) rather it is a series of absurd experiences that reference the noise of everyday life. That is what L.C. did in the original he wrote a series of absurd events that echo clichés and experience contemporaneous with his writing. If you so easily get Carroll's joke then you are either amazingly old or you have done outside reading that contextualizes his writings, we don't need that here all of the absurdities referenced are around us everyday.

The nay saying and negativity of the other comments can be be easily tossed aside as the whining of traditionalists faced with a radical reinterpretation of a beloved work.

Comparisons as odious as they are...this is better than Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet which is arguably in the same vein. This succeeds where the other fails. They do not seek to simply reset the existing text or previous interpretations in the modern world, they seek to reinterpret the story in the modern world.

I enjoyed despite my desire to find fault with it an want to write it off as a series of inside jokes or pretentious attempts at depth...these are not evident in the movie, if they are there again it is still enjoyable, so please if you have read the all the comments do not let the naysayers dissuade you from watching this feature, plus it will be a chance to support truly independent film making. And remember that sour grapes can be served up in online reviews.

A major let down

[americanpulp · 27 September 2004]

I give it to the guys who pulled this one off. This one really had some imagination behind it. However, I, like others around me, just really had a hard time watching this one. In fact, had it been ten minutes longer, I would have walked out on it.

The special effects where pretty impressive, but that's the only impressive thing about this movie.

What I found most aggravating was the music. I am a pretty big fan of Danny Elfman, and felt that the movie's "composer" jipped off Danny Elfman's Beetlejuice score. There was nothing original about the score, it was a complete rip-off.

From all the hype about this film, I was expecting something amazing. Instead, I was given an overdone "trip" with good special effects.

this was a fun movie to be a part of and to watch

[kogepan · 9/10 · 30 June 2005]

I was a featured extra in the queens garden party, and we had a blast filming this movie. I was very excited to get to see it at the sidewalk film festival. My friends and I had an excellent time, and I thought the crew did a wonderful job with the special effects. The entire theaters full of people seemed to laugh along with the movie. I loved the story of Alice as a child, and I don't think that this movie does the story any great injustice. The film captures the same sense of the bizarre characters that Alice meets and presents them in an updated way. Sometimes people simply want to be entertained, and this film delivers.

What a disappointment.

[berkleyblack · 5/10 · 26 September 2004]

After waiting for what felt like forever for this film to be finished and shown somewhere that I could see it, it finally happened. The premier was last night at the Sidewalk Motion Picture festival in Birmingham, Alabama.

I, being a GIGANTIC Alice in Wonderland fanatic, was as close to first in line as one can be when showing up 3 hours before a film starts. I used this time to view the amazing film before A.M.I.W., Dandelion.

Now perhaps the AMTW wasn't was bad as I think it was, but the fact that it followed such a great movie and a pretty funny short (Dysenchanted), I left the movie feeling very let down and a little confused as to why I didn't like it. Then the answer came... the people who were there that were laughing a lot were the cast and creators of the film. I feel fairly comfortable saying that 60%+ of the cast and crew were at the screening.

The Movie itself was like a long and painful inside joke for the cast and crew. The humor in the film was dated, about two years too old and was incessantly beat to death. And I do mean BEAT TO DEATH. The Duchess rap was comical for the first 30 seconds, but after that it was just tiresome and generally uncomfortable to watch. The Cheshire Cat/Gay Best Friend was a genius idea that again was beat to death for about 7-9 minutes. The (drag)Queen was funny and original also, but way too played out were her/his voice, mannerisms and time on screen. These are but a few of the things that bothered me and left me going, "wow, I sure am glad that I got to see Dandelion before this, so that tonight isn't a total bust".

I'm sorry to all of my friends who are in this movie and sorry for all the people I told to go watch this movie under the impression that it was going to be the next best thing. I'm also sorry that I didn't like it, for I wanted to so badly.

I want to support independent movies and especially independent films in Alabama, but I think I would rather watch re-runs of my least favorite television shows than see this atrocity of a film again. I don't want my money back, I want my time back. Better luck next time.

What happened?

[ihateconfetti · 1/10 · 27 September 2004]

I went to see it in hopes of some good old fashioned Alice Entertainment.Once I realized I would not be getting that,I watched it for a pretty well made movie (in terms of filming,and yeah..that was it).But aside from it having a good film quality,considering I had been watching grainy movies all day long,there was nothing good about that movie.

He killed 42.Why were Tweedle Dee and Dum played by Mudler and Scully?Serisouly,Who can answer that for me?Who can answer anything awful about this movie for me.

I agree with whoever said it was just one big long inside joke for the staff.That's all it seemed to be.

Poor Mr.Carroll.I'm so sorry somebody did that to his wonderful tales.

Butchery of a Classic

[wessdread · 1/10 · 8 October 2004]

I was unlucky enough to have seen this at the Sidewalk Film Festival. Sidewalk as a whole was a disappointment and this movie was the final nail in the coffin. Being a devout fan of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice' books I was very excited about this movie's premier, which only made it that much more uncomfortable to watch. Normally I'm enthusiastic about modern re-tellings if they are treated well. Usually it's interesting to see the parallels between the past and present within a familiar story. Unfortunately this movie was less of a modern retelling and more of a pop culture perversion. The adaptation of the original's characters seemed juvenile and usually proved to be horribly annoying. It probably didn't help that the actors weren't very good either. Most performances were ridiculously over the top, which I assume was either due to bad direction or an effort to make up for a bad script. I did not laugh once through out the duration of the film. All of the jokes were outdated references to not so current events that are sure to lose their poignancy as time goes by. Really, the only highlight of the film was the opening sequence in which the white rabbit is on his way to meet Alice, but even then the score was a poor imitation of Danny Elfman's work. Also, I'd have to say that the conversion of the croquet game into a rave dance-off was awful. It was with out a doubt the low point of the film.

What a joke. Don't see this movie. After its conclusion I was genuinely angry.

Standout Effects and Soundtrack

[buffyphreak · 26 September 2004]

I, too, saw this movie at the Sidewalk Film Festival last night. Although parts of "Alice" were confusing and/or long-winded, there were several great scenes and memorable performances by the actors (some professional, some not) overall. The girl who played Alice (Maggie... Henry? God, I suck for already forgetting that. Forgive me.) was particularly convincing in a role that had to be difficult to play (her basic storyline was to be confused/disoriented for the majority of the movie; I'm certainly not an actor, but that seems like it would be one of the more difficult emotions to play). The story suffered in spots because some scenes ran a bit long or were confusing, to me, anyway. There was a bit of frenetic energy that was difficult to follow.

That being said, the production values on this movie were amazing; I can't believe that the shooting schedule was only 16 days (this was revealed at the filmmakers' Q and A session after the film). I would have thought that just securing the locations would have made that kind of schedule impossible, but I was wrong.

I was the most excited by the special effects in "Alice", which were better than many studio films I've seen this year. I couldn't find a bad effects shot in this movie (and there were MANY effects shots). I was very impressed that the screenwriter/director Robb Rugan did most or all of the effects himself. This movie obviously spent a LOT of time in post-production. The music was also extremely impressive, and entirely original by one person. When I heard the music in the trailer, I thought they had temped it from another soundtrack because it was so good, but all of the music in "Alice" was composed entirely by Jim Robeson, who is local. A lot of talent in the Birmingham area was at play here.

Standout Effects and Soundtrack

[buffyphreak · 26 September 2004]

I, too, saw this movie at the Sidewalk Film Festival last night. Although parts of "Alice" were confusing and/or long-winded, there were several great scenes and memorable performances by the actors (some professional, some not) overall. The girl who played Alice (Maggie... Henry? God, I suck for already forgetting that. Forgive me.) was particularly convincing in a role that had to be difficult to play (her basic storyline was to be confused/disoriented for the majority of the movie; I'm certainly not an actor, but that seems like it would be one of the more difficult emotions to play). The story suffered in spots because some scenes ran a bit long or were confusing, to me, anyway. There was a bit of frenetic energy that was difficult to follow.

<p>That being said, the production values on this movie were amazing; I can't believe that the shooting schedule was only 16 days (this was revealed at the filmmakers' Q and A session after the film). I would have thought that just securing the locations would have made that kind of schedule impossible, but I was wrong.

<p>I was the most excited by the special effects in "Alice", which were better than many studio films I've seen this year. I couldn't find a bad effects shot in this movie (and there were MANY effects shots). I was very impressed that the screenwriter/director Robb Rugan did most or all of the effects himself. This movie obviously spent a LOT of time in post-production. The music was also extremely impressive, and entirely original by one person. When I heard the music in the trailer, I thought they had temped it from another soundtrack because it was so good, but all of the music in "Alice" was composed entirely by Jim Robeson, who is local. A lot of talent in the Birmingham area was at play here.