20 for 2010 - Alice in Wonderland

If the combination of "Tim Burton" and "Reimagining" makes you shudder then turn away from my number 7 - Alice in Wonderland.



There are few directors and subjects that go together as well as Tim Burton and Lewis Carroll's delightful nonsense novel Alice in Wonderland. The twisted logic of the original stories sit easily with the gothic sensibilities of the man behind Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow.

Taking an original slant on the story the films takes up with Alice (played by Mia Wasikowska) some ten years after her previous trips behind the looking-glass, previous trips which she, curiously, can't remember. Running away from a society where she feels seperate and unable to fit in she once again follows a White Rabbit (Michael Sheen).


The totally CGI Wonderland is filled with strange and incredible characters ranging from the gentle (The Dormouse) to the pshychotic (The Red Queen, played by Burton's missus Helena Bonham Carter). Allying herself with Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Alice must overthrow the Red Queen and end her tyrannical grip over Wonderland society.

It's the first time Burton has delved with CGI to this extent, so it's going to be fascinating what he makes of it, and the 3D seems to be acutely aware that it's job is to throw things at the audience. The trailer makes this abundently clear.

The strong, mainly British, cast also makes this a potential delight. How often will you get the chance to see Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee and Matt Lucas in the same film.