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Alice in Wonderland mania has officially taken over the world! London was awash with numerous Alice offerings, submerged in a veritable wonderland. From food to clothing, books to window displays, the British capital was more than prepared for the premiere of Tim Burton’s long-awaited movie.

Portobello Road is home to the gorgeous, antique store Alice. Aptly named, careful details had been placed to the forefront to further the Wonderland aspect. The Hummingbird Bakery have special cupcakes created for the occasion and various restaurants have special menus based on the eponymous story. Pop-up Alice stores have appeared in all the major, English department stores, showcasing wild window displays.

Selfridges have dedicated a grand total of 8 windows, setting up madcap tea tables, loaded with absolutely every Alice icon possible. From teacups and cakes, white rabbits and keys, flowers to playing cards, this was one of the most spectacular displays I have ever seen.

Inside the store, it was possible to view original hats by Colleen Atwood for the movie. Colleen is the mastermind costume designer, who has worked in myriad films and unfolds her magic for Tim Burton.

There was all so much to take in, absolutely breathtaking and a brilliant prelude to actually watching the film. Buenos Aires has also jumped on the Alice bandwagon. Disney has launched guerilla marketing tactics around Argentina’s capital in the form of “Alice’s Teatime in Wonderland”, a circuit of restaurants and cafés which offer up delicious delicacies based on the movie. Yet does the film actually merit all this pre-frenzied anticipation?

After paying for the most expensive, cinema ticket ever, last Friday 5th of March, I was finally able to find out. A word of warning: this is not Alice in Wonderland. This is an enormous, blended mix of the two Lewis Carroll books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. The original books had an air of dark dramatization and Tim Burton does not disappoint. The problem starts with the very obvious, heavy-handed influence of Disney. Another word of warning: the film is NOT AT ALL faithful to the original story. I’m not going to say why, as the movie has not premiered here in Spain yet, but there are many Disney-esque tricks pulled out of a… hat.

Considering that both 2D and 3D viewing options exist, I would strongly recommend seeing the 2D version. There are vast amounts of details that simply become lost through the 3D experience. In general, I’m not a fan of 3D; having to balance the 3D glasses over my own glasses does not make for optimum viewing conditions.

I have started out a bit negatively but I would have preferred to know these few facts, as I was terribly confused for about the first 30 minutes. That said, the characters are sublime. Careful detail and attention have been placed in developing the quirks of each character and some are positively brilliant. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham-Carter as the Queen of Hearts, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, all put in marvellous performances. Mia Wasikowska as Alice is at times a bit flat and monotonous but slowly picks up as she goes about her various adventures.

There are good animation moments and others that seem a bit wooden. The costumes and makeup are worthy of a standing ovation. The music is very Disney-like as well. I can hardly imagine Tim Burton saying, “oh yes, let’s have Avril Lavigne do a song for the end of the movie and also be the official song“.

Unfortunately, the film was as good as I expected it to be. It wasn’t better than I was hoping, it wasn’t altogether surprising, knock-you-out-of-your-seat. That said, I will be going to see it again when it premieres here in Spain. But this time in 2D to catch all the stunning, visual details. I was so excited to see this, I had been waiting for so long and I have to admit, it fell a bit flat. But I still had an excellent time. If you’ve seen Alice in Wonderland, I’d love to know what you thought. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d love to hear what you are expecting!

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alice in wonderland, anne hathaway, Argentina, avril lavigne, buenos aires, colleen atwood, disney, guerilla marketing tactics, helena bonham-carter, Johnny Depp, lewis carroll books, London, mad hatter, mia wasikowska, queen of heaerts, selfridges, tim burton, white queen

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