Malice in Wonderland (2010)

This is NOT a good movie. It's a failure. However, a few "reviewers" have rated it 10/10. One of them has reviewed less than ten movies; another, called "Jane Regan" titles her review "Beautifully Filmed & Feel good Movie with a Great Beginning Middle and End!". Ridiculous... is she a cast member? a crew member? a friend or relative? I NEVER trust 10/10 ratings: I find usually that, like this one, the "reviewer" has reviewed only a few films, in this case only 4. Anyway, AVOID this lousy attemot at movie-making... it is all over the place, boring, and badly filmed. Don't punish yourself.

Malice in Wonderland is a modern gangland reworking of Alice in Wonderland transplanted to modern day North East via London. Well it stars cockney geezer Danny Dyer as black cab driver, Whitey also known as White Rabbit.Maggie Grace is Alice Dodgson, an American law student living in London who ends up in a daze after being hit by Whitey's cab and ends up in a surreal underground world of fairgrounds, nightclubs, gangsters. There are fleeting appearances from a night time DJ, Felix Chester. Homophobic bouncers Dom and Dean Tweedle as well as other Wonderland characters with a twist who aid or hinder Alice.The film is an interesting misfire. It never quiet gels or is coherent enough. I think the film was also hampered by its low budget. It still has a surreal and inventive element to it.

Had I made the film "Malace in Wonderland" (2009) I would be quite proud of it. But it is not something that I would casually show to a random group of people expecting an enthusiastic response. Its target audience is the off-kilter and twisted, and not even all of those will wildly embrace this effort. But if you get off on oddity, quirkiness, and fun you should seek out this film.This is the fourth of five relatively recent efforts to "out-weird" Carroll by taking the framework of his story and constructing a feature film that reflects the director's inner child at the expense of the wit and wisdom of the source material.If a perverse homage is your cup of tea and you don't hold your own image of the Mad Hatter sacred, then you should check out this film along with the other four: Tim Burton's recent release, Terry Gilliam's "Tideland" (2005), Czech animator Jan Svankmajerand "Alice" (1988), and the one that started the trend-Richard Elfman's "Forbidden Zone (1982). "Malace" is the best of the group if only because it captures more of the original's spirit. It's gotten to be a rather well-traveled path but this one benefits from a closer association to the original "Wonderland".In this case Carroll's story is transported to the gritty underworld of modern day East London (insert lowlifes, drug lords, addicts and pimps here). But not so gritty that there are not a lot of bizarre characters with counterparts in the original wonderland and looking glass worlds.Lost's Maggie Grace plays Alice Dodgson (Carroll's real last name although she has amnesia and is nameless for most of the story - perhaps a symbolic connection to his use of a pen name). Danny Dyer is a London Taxi driver named Whitey, and like the White Rabbit he is often running late despite being obsessed with time. Nathaniel Parker is a recently released from prison underworld boss, like the Queen of Hearts he holds a trial when his tarts (in this case a string of hookers) are stolen.Bronagh Gallagher is Hattie, the operator of a truck stop brothel, she holds Mad Hatter tea parties with the assistance of a sleeping Dormouse. Gallagher's character is by far the best of the ensemble and you wish that she had more screen time.Gary Beadle is DJ Felix Chester (the Cheshire Cat) and Paul Kaye is the Caterpillar. The Tweedle twins are employed as burly nightclub bouncers . Matt King plays a hustler named Gonzo, a significant character who apparently was kidnapped from the set of a Muppet parody and has no Wonderland parallel (go figure??).Grace's Alice is your basic still coltish Homecoming Queen who does not yet realize (or at least convincingly pretends to not realize) how incredibly hot she has become. I have read that she was a last minute replacement for Misha Barton, who also has that quality. Apparently Fellows knew exactly what he wanted for the role and why he wanted it. He effectively utilizes her face in frequent close-up, building a connection with viewers to Alice's very confused point-of-view. It works!! The film has excellent production design, cinematography, and acting for the camera direction. The writing is the only weak area, not that it is poor but rather the project is so ambitious that another rewrite would have been a good investment. The romance and the search for the birth mother have some emotional impact but are poorly integrated into the story. You can overlook a lack of logic (this is "Wonderland" after all) but those two elements seek to provide a resolution to one of the few stories where one is not needed.I just don't see Carroll going out of his illogical lunacy with a logical and predictable ending.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I really liked this a lot. It was definitely one of the more original visions of the 'Alice' stories. A little scary at times but probably no scarier than say Svankmajer's 'Alice' film. Svankmajer's film is more brilliant but this film is not to be dismissed either. I don't know if I think this movie is genuine film noir or not. It's photography and color are so vibrant they are almost psychedelic. Something not typically film noir. But the story and screenplay definitely qualify as film noir.I don't think I've seen many movies that are as dark and sinister as this while being kind of light hearted and fun at the same time. The story can be both dark and dreary but also very whimsical and full of wonderment.The acting is excellent. The actress who plays Alice is cute and funny and also tough. The cab driver(whitey?)was great. And it's always nice to see Nathaniel Parker who is such a good actor and is hilarious and sinister as a Gay underworld king(or should I say queen?).I thought Tim Burton's movie was probably better, but this was decidedly more interesting. And it was even more for adults than Nick Willing's hilarious SyFy 'Alice'. If you are a die hard 'Alice' fan like myself, you gotta at least check this out. It's a lot of fun.