The Tourist (2010)

The Tourist

A remake of Anthony Zimmer, and I truly hope they had more to work with. Even starring Jolie and Depp, there's no doubt Venice was the best part of the movie. Hard to believe this crap comes from the director of the amazing Das Leben der Anderen.

No chemistry, awful dialogues and a plot to forget even before the movie's ended.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Director: Tim Burton
Writer: Story: Tim Burton, Caroline Thompson Screenplay: Caroline Thompson
Cast: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Alan Arkin, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Edward Scissorhands is the Burton classic about the gentle creation Edward, unfinished due to his masters death. As a result he's got scissors instead of hands, and we get to follow him from embarking on social life away from the abandoned castle he's spent his life until saleswoman Peg takes him under her wings.

Depp is as usual brilliant as Edward, and flanked by the talented Ryder this soon enough turns into a heartwarming story told with fantasy, visual insight and playfulness.

Public Enemies (2009)

Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Screenplay by Ronan Bennett, Michael Mann & Ann Biderman
Novel "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34" by Bryan Burrough
Cast: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff, James Russo, Carey Mulligan, Emilie de Ravin, Giovanni Ribisi, Lili Taylor
Genre: Biography, History, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Public Enemies takes us back to the heydays of gangsters with Tommy-guns, telling the story of John Dillinger (Depp), Public Enemy No. 1 and the beginning of FBI. There's a romantic aura about this era, but there was actually very little romantic about it. While the semi-romantic Robin Hood-like notions might have followed the bank robbers of the depression, the results of Tommy-guns spitting led in the streets would soon enough turn the tide.

Michael Mann knows how to tell these crime stories intelligently. Everybody still remembers Heat (1995) as one of the best movies within its genre. He does well here as well, but without walking away from the biographical facts, there's a lack of highlights within the story.

Both Depp and Bale is brilliant as usual, and they are supported by an ensemble cast here. Still. The lack of theatrically stunning scenes helps dull us to sleep with its 140 minutes runtime. I don't deny it's a story worth telling. I just think it's not especially well suited to make a great movie.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Director: Tim Burton
Writer: Books: Lewis Carroll Screenplay: Linda Woolverton
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas
Voice-Cast: Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Barbara Windsor
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Family

Alice in Wonderland invites to a fantastic tale in a fantastic world, but falls short of delivering. While the beginning makes promises of a fun and highly entertaining tale, it quite early gets stuck in a direction where the magic doesn't manage to surpass Depp's portrayal of the 'Mad Hatter'. Mia Wasikowska is quite easily forgettable as 'Alice', the timing in the delivery from the magic creatures is not precise enough and the rest of the cast have got too little to work with.

I haven't seen any of the earlier versions of this tale, as it's no secret this have been told quite often. I haven't read it either, so my view and knowledge is solely based on what the movie had to offer. I was disappointed they never managed to create any particular interest for the characters like the Queens, 'Stayne', 'Tweedledee', 'Tweedledum', 'Cheshire Cat', 'White Rabbit' and the rest of the creatures 'Alice' met along her journey in the land she referred to as Wonderland. Any fantasy movie not able to spur more than one interesting fantasy character, like Depp's 'Mad Hatter' in this case, isn't a movie well worth exploring. It could have been, and I think it should have been, but at the end of the day this was quite forgettable. Unlike a movie like Labyrinth, which I recently reviewed here and which was made 24 years ago with a lot less CGI and other movie tricks up their sleeve. They had heart, characters we responded to and used its imagination to create a wonderful world. Alice in Wonderland is a student production in comparison, even with the advantages of recent development in cinematic abilities.