This weekend, my generous parents took Michael and me to see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. The movie tells a tale of Alice as a young lady returning to the land of her childhood dreams.

Visually, I found it fine, but not remarkable. The acting was decent; Depp’s acting was excellent as usual. Overall, I found it fine, but it seemed to lack "muchness," so I rated it at 3 stars over at movielens. There may be spoilers below.

While special effects may have added a visual dimension, I thought the characters were rather flat. Perhaps it would be better to call them caricatures than characters because many of them were merely poorly written stereotypes: the controlling potential mother-in-law, the immature gossipy teenage girls, the pompous suitor, the unfaithful brother-in-law, etc.

I enjoyed the adaptation of Jabberwocky. I particularly thought the interaction between the Bandersnatch and Alice was one of the finer points of the movie.

I also appreciated Alice’s relationship with her father. A scene showing a time when Alice was a child depicts her father as a loving father who puts his daughter’s disturbing dream before a late-night business meeting. Later, Alice finds inspiration from her father.

I didn’t care for the way marriage was portrayed. The happiest marriage seems to have been cut short when Alice’s father died. Other matches featured shrewish wives or unfaithful husbands (the King of Hearts was said to have preferred the White Queen while Alice’s brother-in-law was smooching a woman who was not Alice’s sister). Alice ends up rejecting her suitor in search of adventure. I don’t think women need to accept any proposal that comes their way no matter how unsatisfactory the potential husband, but in real life, marriage seems far greater an adventure than sailing around the world.

Overall, I am grateful that my parents took us. I’m sure I found it more interesting than the basketball my brother watched instead of going. It was an ok film, but I found myself wanting something more.