Movie Number- 59
Title– Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Genre– Family
Branden’s Rating– 6 out of 10
Bridgette’s Rating– 7 out of 10
Average Rating– 6.5
Netflix Rating– 3 Stars
Comments– That wasn’t nearly as bad as a lot of people had me believing. This one was taking FOREVER to get here from Netflix, so we decided to head out to Blockbuster to give it a rental. The Blu-Ray looked stunning, but this one just barely gets my recommendation to those that haven’t seen it. The first three-quarters of the movie were just…boring to me, to be honest. It wasn’t until the end of the movie, when the Jabberwocky was revealed, and the final fight scene really stole the show, and raised this from a disappointment to an enjoyable movie. The final fight was so bad ass, and the Jabberwocky looked so friggin’ cool that I was able to forgive the completely out of place, terrible freestyle breakdance done by Johnny Depp (the Mad Hatter) at the end of the film (which was later brought back in for another out of place moment). The Jabberwocky has a special place in my heart because that is the Lewis Carroll poem I assign to my students and make them memorize and perform, so hearing Johnny Depp speak the poem through the movie was very cool. Really the movie was not bad, but it was a hell of a lot slower than I expect any family movie to be (I wonder what it was rated because for being a family movie, there was some pretty cool things going on like beheadings and eyes being poked out). I recommend watching through it just to see the reveal of the Jabberwocky, and the fun fight that follows. Memorable-Good.
Branden has been a film fan since he was young, roaming the halls of Blockbuster Video, trying to find the grossest, scariest looking VHS covers to rent and watch alone in the basement. It wasn’t until recently, though, that Branden started seeking out the classics of cinema, and began to develop his true passion for the art form. Branden approaches each film with the unique perspective of having studied the art from the inside, having both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in acting. He has been a film critic since 2010, and has previously written for Inside Pulse Movies, We Love Cult, and Diehard Gamefan. His biggest achievement as a film critic, to date, has been founding Cinefessions and turning it from a personal blog to a true film website, housing hundreds of film and television reviews, and dozens of podcasts.
