Alice

I rarely like 're-worked' classics. They normally miss the point that the author was trying to make or lose their way trying to be different. This, however, is a masterpiece and works on every level.

If like myself you are a fan of the author Lewis Caroll and the mathematician/logician Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson then this has got to appeal: the intermingled references, quirky facts and nods to the knowing are just wonderful. I am sure I did not get anything like all of them, but the enjoyment I found in spotting these references and obscure nods to Lewis Caroll/Charles Dodgson was immensely almost smugly satisfying.

The story is of itself interesting and absorbing, with truly wonderful acting, casting and direction and the cinematography and visual interpretation of this edgy dangerous wonderland is nothing short of inspired.

It almost seems unfair to single anyone out for extra praise, but Mat Frewer (The White Knight) and Andrew Lee Potts (The Hatter) in particular were both quite simply exceptional.

If I have a slight criticism it is that sometimes Caterina Scorsone as Alice failed to completely deliver the softer vulnerable 'girlie' aspect to her character that was the necessary balance to her harsher more brittle and damaged personality. Her character was necessarily incredibly complex, requiring a multi-levelled and very pure almost innocent interpretation and for the most part she pulled this off, truly convincing me.

So to conclude I can only exhort you to watch this. Whether you have read the 'Alice' stories or not I cannot believe that this will fail to entertain and impress.