Alice follows a man through a mirror into Wonderland, which is not the joyful place from the story. It is now ruled by an even more merciless Red Queen, and the inhabitants have a strange sort of addiction to "tea" that is drained from humans outside of Wonderland. Can Alice get back home?
Writer-director Nick Willing has previously worked on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" -- he made a version starring Tina Majorino back in 1999, which was one of the closest adaptations ever. A bit dry, but Willing's love of the characters was obvious. Here he returns with a modified story, much less dry, and a whole new spin... this is the masterpiece.
All the cast is pretty great, even Caterina Scorsone (Alice) who flails her arms wildly when she runs. Andrew Lee Potts (Hatter) does a great male lead, being both handsome and understandable. Cult icon Matt Frewer is a wonderful White Knight, though they might have used a better beard. Having Colm Meaney (King of Hearts) show up was good, though his role was not made all too clear.
The situations were brilliant. The "tea party" being more like a stock market was a good modification, though I don't know why the Dormouse was a woman with a mustache. The room with Doctors Dee and Dumb was genius, and I really liked Mad March (though the Brooklyn accent was a bad choice).
Three casting choices failed for me. Philip Winchester (Jack Chase) did not have the charisma he should have to play the romantic interest. He just did not make a strong hero. Tim Curry (Dodo) was doubly wronged: his Dodo made little sense (why the Dodo?) and a character actor of his caliber deserved a bigger role. Lastly, Kathy Bates (Queen of Hearts) was wasted. Anyone could have played the Queen the way she was written (very flat)... using Bates was overkill.
This is probably the best thing SyFy did since picking up the rights for "Mystery Science Theater". What is normally a worthless network was spared by this film.
Writer-director Nick Willing has previously worked on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" -- he made a version starring Tina Majorino back in 1999, which was one of the closest adaptations ever. A bit dry, but Willing's love of the characters was obvious. Here he returns with a modified story, much less dry, and a whole new spin... this is the masterpiece.
All the cast is pretty great, even Caterina Scorsone (Alice) who flails her arms wildly when she runs. Andrew Lee Potts (Hatter) does a great male lead, being both handsome and understandable. Cult icon Matt Frewer is a wonderful White Knight, though they might have used a better beard. Having Colm Meaney (King of Hearts) show up was good, though his role was not made all too clear.
The situations were brilliant. The "tea party" being more like a stock market was a good modification, though I don't know why the Dormouse was a woman with a mustache. The room with Doctors Dee and Dumb was genius, and I really liked Mad March (though the Brooklyn accent was a bad choice).
Three casting choices failed for me. Philip Winchester (Jack Chase) did not have the charisma he should have to play the romantic interest. He just did not make a strong hero. Tim Curry (Dodo) was doubly wronged: his Dodo made little sense (why the Dodo?) and a character actor of his caliber deserved a bigger role. Lastly, Kathy Bates (Queen of Hearts) was wasted. Anyone could have played the Queen the way she was written (very flat)... using Bates was overkill.
This is probably the best thing SyFy did since picking up the rights for "Mystery Science Theater". What is normally a worthless network was spared by this film.