On the Couch

DVD REVIEW

Alice in Wonderland *****
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter

Solomon Kane ****
Directed by: Michael J Bassett
Starring: James Purefoy, Max von Sydow, Pete Postlethwaite

Alice in Wonderland is the latest of the spate of event movie releases this year that were as notable for their spectacular 3D visuals as they were for their cast, story and acting.
Unlike Avatar before it, however, the sequel to Lewis Carroll’s classic absurdist children’s tale is an exciting, eye-watering, entertaining tale that just happens to look like it was ripped straight from the dark and delightful recesses of Tim Burton’s imagination.
Taking up 13 years after the original story, based on Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll Burton’s Alice bears some similarities with Steven Spielberg’s ill-fated Peter Pan remake, Hook.
Now a young lady over whom the threat of marriage looms large, Alice, played by Mia Wasikowska, is plagued by weird dreams of caterpillars, terrifying beasts and rabbits.
Ducking out of a painful marriage proposal, she chases a well dressed rabbit and ends up back in Wonderland. Assuming it is all a dream, she remembers nothing of her original adventure and only a near death experience with the “frumious bandersnatch” convinces her that things might be a tad more real than she might like.
What unfolds is a tale of derring-do, family drama, bizarre and hilarous antics and a small amount of unconventional cookery.
With nearly all of Wonderland and its denizens the product of computer graphic designers, the world that makes it to the screen is about as close to what director Tim Burton sees inside his head as audiences are ever likely to get.
Unlike some of the director’s previous films, however, the vision never overwhelms the story or the actors and it is some of the more subtle effects that work the best – particularly the Mad Hatter’s eyes and the Red Queen’s swollen head.
This nearly perfect synthesis of sight and story is complimented by a well chosen cast of Burton regulars – Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen – as well as some faces more familiar to BBC viewers than Hollywood movie fans – Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat and Matt Lucas as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. As the titular Alice, Mia Wasikowska shows herself to be an actress of unusual skill and maturity.
While it’s success has already been trumpeted far and wide, it’s nice to know that even without a cinema screen to show off its visual wares, Alice in Wonderland stands up on home screens as well – a riveting tale from beginning to end.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been engaging in what seemed like a fruitless search for a good quality dumb action movie. They’re a guilty pleasure for many but the pickings of late have been unsatisfying to say the least.
Say what you want about the 80s – god knows the memories of leg-warmers, Timmy Mallet and those bloody stupid tutus will forever scar the collective unconscious – but they fairly churned out some kick-ass action flicks.
Mssrs Willis, Stallone and Schwarzenegger birthed a generation of musclebound heros at whom we marvelled for their one-liners, rippling muscles and ability to be shot at least once before fighting the big bad guy at the end of the film.
The rise of the Jason Bourne-style hero – you know, super competant but prone to navel-gazing about the mayhem he wreaks – is both a good and bad thing. The added edge of realism, when properly handled, can really make a movie but, more often than not, the reluctant, mumbly hero is just an annoying duffer who’s no craic to watch at all.
Which brings me to Solomon Kane, as silly and enjoyable an action flick as i have seen in ages. Kane, played by James Purefoy, is a recovering hell-raiser, thief and murderer being hunted by the devil in medieval England.
After the family of pilgrims that takes him in is brutally slaughtered by some sort of supernatural army, he is forced to renounce his vow of peace and hunt the army down with a view to killing them all.
It’s that simple. Growling, scowling Purefoy kills his way through a heap of demons and zombies in grusome, well choreographed style en route to redemption, revenge and the rescue of a young maiden.
The good story and quality acting just add to a quality bit of nonsense.