30/100
Everyone calls this film “ambitious,” but what it really is, is a choppy dream sequence with costumes. It tries to condense Alice in wonderland into a few minutes of silent comedy and barely strung-together effects, and the result is a visual parade with zero rhythm, tone, or coherence.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a story. Alice grows, shrinks, meets some creatures, gets chased, falls down, walks around. Scenes just happen. There’s no through-line, no pacing, no escalation. It’s Carroll’s surrealism flattened into a paper puppet show.
Visually, yes, some of it looks great, especially for 1903. The costumes and set design are inventive and the camera tricks are occasionally clever. But what you’re left with is a series of moments, not a film.
30/100
Everyone calls this film “ambitious,” but what it really is, is a choppy dream sequence with costumes. It tries to condense Alice in wonderland into a few minutes of silent comedy and barely strung-together effects, and the result is a visual parade with zero rhythm, tone, or coherence.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a story. Alice grows, shrinks, meets some creatures, gets chased, falls down, walks around. Scenes just happen. There’s no through-line, no pacing, no escalation. It’s Carroll’s surrealism flattened into a paper puppet show.
Visually, yes, some of it looks great, especially for 1903. The costumes and set design are inventive and the camera tricks are occasionally clever. But what you’re left with is a series of moments, not a film.
