The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Tim Burton's animated alternative Christmas story have become legendary, but I don't find it all it's been hyped to be. The animations are quite well done for the time it was made, but there's just too many scenes throughout the movie that doesn't manage to hold your attention.

At its best it's marvelous. There's some really genial scenes, both funny, dark and almost heartbreaking. Underneath it all there's a lot of hope, and as such it works very well this time of year. I'll definitely return to it again, and maybe then it'll get a tighter grip on me as well.

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.

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.