was a sad movie. throughout.
the so-called happy scenes only made me sadder.
let me try to do it chronologically.
and i'm gonna say that my ability so summarize things SUCK.
haven't been writing essays for so long omg.
the start of the movie was okay--all introductory.
i rather liked the fact that they didn't make her fall asleep at the root of the tree while listening to her sister tell stories.
oh, and the falling into the hole thing?
AWESOME.
man i bet it'd be even better in 3D 8D
and so she drinks the bottle and eats the biscuit (and LOL with all the comments sd made about her gullibility) and made her way thru the door,
meets the other charas,
and omfg i didnt know the caterpillar was voiced by Alan Rickman 8D
i knew the way he said "stupid girl" and "hardly" sounded daaaaamn familiar!!
8DDD \o/
anyway.
oh, my hair stands everytime the Red Queen goes "Off with her head!"
i can't even imitate the...the fear you get when you hear the 4 words being yelled across the hall/theater/wherever you're watching the movie.
when i read Alice in books i just thought the Red Queen was some temperamental nutcase and it was normal for Kings and Queens of medieval times to give such punishments anyway.
"Off with his/her head" was just a command, a catchphrase, a sentence which belongs to the Red Queen.
but hearing it out aloud (and awesomely too, by Helena Boham Carter) makes me cringe.
i think it has smth to do with her stone-like expression when yelling it too.
the illustration of the Red Queen in my storybook always has this angry/pekchek/rawr face (LOL HAHAH pardon my descriptions) but Carter's Queen will listen to her subords, look at the victim, and then yell.
and then the info that Alice has returned to wonderland comes.
then the monster and the Red Soldiers came,
alice and co ran,
got captured,
and she meets the hatter.
almost got caught again,
journey,
backstory of wonderland (oh, if i heard correctly, i think they called wonderland "underland" quite a few times. i'm still trying to figure out the symbolism.)
the awesome jabberwocky (why tho? why jabberwocky?)
fire fire fire and la di da.
hatter gets caught, she gets flung away,
meets bayard,
goes back to the queen's castle,
mmhmm.
I LOVE THE WHITE KINGDOM.
the trees! the whiteness! the people! the queen!!
8D
the airy and dreamy posture of the White Queen strongly reminds me of someone, but until now i just can't rmb who.
one would think of comfort when residing in the House of the White Queen, but somehow everytime i look at the White Queen i feel uncomfortable.
pretty--yes.
kind-looking--yes.
smiling--yes.
friendly--yes.
but i still don't trust that look.
you know,
i very much understand and side with the Red Queen more.
which is why, i guess,
i find Alice a sad movie.
to find that all those who surround you and "side" with you were actually liars?
and the one you loved, believed, trusted, and whom you thought felt the same towards you, was actually putting up with you?
the black knight (wtv his name was, i think i heard it as "Stay") asked the Red Queen a few times:
"Are you sure it's better to be feared than to be loved?"
"Are you sure you don't want to try being loved?"
"Being loved might be better."
i'm not sure if he actually has a heart, or is he simply sick of the Red Queen and wants to free himself instead?
i suppose the latter is more possible.
anyway the ending part of Alice was the most impt part of the movie to me.
don't mind all the fantastical wonderland thingums.
they're just there to amaze the general audience and kids.
what i will rmb the most was the heartwrenching feeling of watching the following scenes:
1. the red queen and the knight at the balcony
"I had to do it, or he'd leave me."
in reference to her father's head which was lying in the marsh.
2. the red queen and the knight at the balcony
"i don't need all them. i only need you."
in reference to the knight, who we know do not return her feelings, AT ALL.
3. the red queen, after hatter reveals that her subords are fake
"LIARS. YOU'RE ALL LIARS. OFF WITH YOUR HEADS."
4. the red queen and the white queen
"You think, that just by fluttering those pretty lashes, i will melt and give in to you, just like mummy and daddy would?
THE CROWN IS MINE!!! I AM THE ELDEST!!!!!"
as you can see this the above part clearly had the deepest impression on me.
i nearly cried when she said that.
why?
well i don't have to tell you, do i?
i noticed that she used the word "mummy and daddy" (or maybe i remembered wrongly) but it makes a difference.
5. the red queen on exile
"Did you see that? DID YOU SEE THAT?! HE TRIED TO KILL ME! HE WANTED TO KILL ME!"
in reference to the knight.
this was another scene which made me close to tears.
and the instant change-of-scene to the hatter's mad dance did NOT make things better.
the happy scene would be seen as happy (lol. sounds weird) because, OF COURSE! things are now back to normal, and everyone is happy, and the Red Queen's gone, and yay! happy ending.
but it only made me much sadder.
like hello?
you just sent your own sister away on exile with a person who broke her heart, and you start an immediate celebration.
it has this "i am going to turn your attention away to happier things now because i don't want you to think about the sad ones" kind of message.
i'm sorry, the contrast only brought out how depressing the earlier scene was.
i actually think the Red Queen's the main victim of this movie, and i just had this "HA. I KNEW YOU WEREN'T ALL GOOD." when the White Queen passed on her verdict on what was to happen to the Red Queen.
Somehow, i feel that that was the white queen's true nature. soft and lovely on the outside, cold and harsh on the inside.
And the red queen actually just wants people to accept her for who she is.
isnt the big head an obvious enough reason why she'd feel so left out?
"You think, that just by fluttering those lovely little lashes, i will melt and give in to you, just like mummy and daddy would?"
yeah. the white queen isn't as nice as we all thought, is it?
during her convo with alice in the kitchen she never once showed that she was sorry for her sister,
only asked how she was and that she had a thing for dead people.
she's your sister for god's sake.
"it doesn't have to be this way..."
was what the white queen said to the red.
you know,
if anyone told me this when I'm really angry,
i'd get even madder.
and the appearance of the jabberwocky just shows the harnessed anger/hatred that we all have inside.
and the potential to harm those around you.
argh. i can't put it nicely.
let's just put it as "venting your anger on others".
yeah.
that's what the jabberwocky is.
and when alice slays the jabberwocky and you realise that anger has no effect on others already...
...
...
yeah.
i feel for the red queen.
and the ending part? when she wants to go home?
somehow,
when alice reassured the hatter that of course she'd rmb him,
and he said
"No, you wouldnt."
i believed him.
and that was the last of the last sad part of alice.
as for ratings,
well i suppose people were expecting dark and epic and morbid stuff from burton.
esp since his last movie was Sweedney Todd.
but you know, Alice really isn't all that sweet and happy.
oh, and Helena Boham Carter's really pretty.
i shall end this with one more pic.
