Last year I went to see My Bloody Valentine in 3D and I made a comment that I wished every movie would be in 3D. Well one year and one Avatar later and it looks like my wish might come true... and all I can do is blame myself. It really kills me to have to write this post, but after I saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland yesterday, I'm afraid it must be done. Tim Burton, one of my favorite directors, has noticeably hit a slump over the past few years, and with his latest work, it doesn't look like he's going in the right direction anytime soon. The Alice reboot, which is actually a sequel, has been a highly anticipated film since it was announced. The clout around it grew and grew, and therefore, going into this movie I naturally had very low expectations, because, let's face it, when people expect good things from things and/or people they usually disappoint. The reviews have been lukewarm at best, most of them seemed rather let down by the film in general. Variety said of the pic,

But for all its clever design, beguiling creatures and witty actors, the picture feels far more conventional than it should; it's a Disney film illustrated by Burton, rather than a Burton film that happens to be released by Disney.

I did indeed feel that the the pic wasn't as dark as I've come to expect out of Burton. The Alice I was expecting would be gothic and strange and obtuse, instead I felt as if the film were actually intended for children, which, might possibly be the case since the screening I attended was at 3PM on a Saturday and kiddies were running up and down the aisles. If this film was purposed to be a children's film then kudos, the plot was strong yet simple enough to engage a child. However, I imagine that with the Disney entity, backing Burton here, probably made him tone down his vision for more family friendly audiences. It's very unfortunate that an artist is more restrained after he's proven his chops. Burton's golden year films, such as Beetle Juice, Batman and Edward Scissorhands (my all time favorite movie ever) were so rich and original in story and brought the viewer to a new realm in time and space that had never been seen before, by any other director. Side note: I'm not including A Nightmare Before Christmas in the above list because, while Burton did write and produce it, (little known fact) he did not direct it because of scheduling conflicts with Batman Returns. Not only was Burton an incredible visionary but he had an onscreen counterpart, who was equally dark and strange, in Johnny Depp. Depp and Burton have collaborated 7 times, which is great, if you are a director/actor pair who work well together and only continue to get better, which for the 90s was Burton/Depp. However, that was the 90s and this is the 00s/10s (???) and they've lost a bit of their muchness, methinks the Scorsese/DiCaprio Tag Team stole it from them! After 7 films together, spanning a 20 year professional relationship, you have to wonder, if like most couples, the Burton/Depp relationship might be in need of a little therapy. In my opinion, and of course all of this is, Burton hasn't made a good film (and by good film, I mean one up to his standards, which, from the beginning he's set the bar pretty high) since Big Fish in 2003, which was incredible and would have marked a great comeback since his last few films weren't great successes. However, Burton chose to follow Fish up with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride, which, while they were financially efficient, weren't some of his finest works. The same problem seems to be arising with Depp around the same time as Burton. Depp's last good film was Finding Neverland in 2004. And, ever since Disney sunk their claws into the notorious pirate they haven't let go for a minute. We know that Depp and Burton can make beautiful music together, they just need to refresh the relationship a bit. Four out of the last five films Burton and Depp collaborated on were adaptations; Sleepy Hollow, Charlie, Sweeney Todd & Alice, the original fourth being Corpse Bride. I sense a pattern. It seems to me that Burton does his best work when it is indeed his own work. The easiest way to fix this problem is to come up with new and original ideas. Ah, what an idea Bleecker, new and original ideas? Why didn't I think of that?! I apologize, as a screenwriter I know that every idea has already been thought of. But as a Burton lover I also know that his mind has the ability to fathom things normal people cannot. To be blunt, I find the career path he's chosen based solely on an exorbitant amount of money and laziness. It's true, Burton's films have become wildly successful, much to his name and Depp's being among the headliners; however, it's come to a point where people aren't seeing films because of they want to see them but because they want to see a Burton/Depp film. They can both ride the success train for a while, but sooner or later audiences are going to be catching on that the films aren't worth it and Burton and Depp are going to eventually lose out. Read Variety review for Alice.