It just felt really boring and charmless and spectacle for spectacle's sake to me. If I had to choose one scene that pretty much summed it up, it would be that dance that the Hatter does at the end: kind of pointless, and a little embarassing. I was predisposed to like this, too; I've been more a fan of Burton's '00s output than most (though not Planet of the Apes), I really liked Sweeney Todd, and I thought this material could be great for him.
I think part of the problem is that I don't think Burton has been entirely successful at integrating digital effects into his aesthetic. It's much the same problem I had with the fantasy sequences in Gilliam's Dr. Parnassus: the handmade quality of Gilliam's design concepts is as much a part of it as the actual design. The digital sheen just doesn't work for it. I mean, imagine Brazil or Beetlejuice with CGI subbing in for all those great practical effects. I think it would have been a huge blow to those pictures, and I think it's part of what left me cold in Alice, too.
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I think part of the problem is that I don't think Burton has been entirely successful at integrating digital effects into his aesthetic. It's much the same problem I had with the fantasy sequences in Gilliam's Dr. Parnassus: the handmade quality of Gilliam's design concepts is as much a part of it as the actual design. The digital sheen just doesn't work for it. I mean, imagine Brazil or Beetlejuice with CGI subbing in for all those great practical effects. I think it would have been a huge blow to those pictures, and I think it's part of what left me cold in Alice, too.
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