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Last Friday, I went to see the opening of Disney's new Alice in Wonderland movie in 3D. Let me start by saying that the theater was packed, so I was sitting on the right side of the theater. Then, the theater could not get the 3D working properly and the screen on which they were showing the movie had some type of stain across the bottom. As a result, I had a very hard time seeing the movie. It was dark (as in a lack of light, not the tone of the movie) and I was straining my eyes to see. My eyes actually hurt at the end.
I tried to focus on the scenes that you would think would benefit from 3D, but I didn't notice a significant benefit. In fact, if I were to see it again, I believe I would go to the 2D version or maybe try out the IMax version. Other than maybe the falling down the rabbit hole scene (and that was REALLY hard to see), I didn't think 3D was necessary. This was much the same feeling I had from G-Force. Is Disney trying to force 3D just because it's the hip new cool thing to do?
I thought the story was great. No holes in the plot and I love the message that girls need to stand up for themselves, be courageous, and can be the hero. I like to think my own daughter has that kind of courage and strength.
Characters were fantastic! Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen were the stars of the show! Mia Wasikowska did OK as Alice. She didn't just jump off the screen as anything better than previous attempts, unlike Depp and Carter. Mia also looked half-dead for most of the movie, but I'm sure that's part of the Tim Burton influence on the movie. Wasn't appealing, IMHO. Some of the animatronic/CGI characters were a bit much, for example the March Hare -- they just looked too fake.
I have to go see the movie, again, as my wife was too sick to go. Would I go again if I didn't have to? I'm somewhat indifferent. I would like to give the scenes and costumes a second chance, since my view was absolutely horrible. If it weren't for that, I might not go back, but it's a definite DVD buy.
As for the kiddies, I would say a definite no-go. I would even be hesitant to bring kids under 13 (I'm a bit surprised it didn't get a PG-13 rating), but then, I'm overly cautious with exposing my children to violence on TV and movies. There was a head on a chopping block scene, lots of talk of cutting off heads, Alice using severed heads as stepping stones to cross a moat (very close up and real scenes), and a dragon's head rolling around.
If you're looking for a recommendation, I'd say it's worth seeing if you don't have babysitting issues. I'm not sure it's worth the expense and hassle of finding/paying for babysitters, cost of movie and snacks versus just waiting for the DVD.