Rather, I feel more shocked that this film is being made at all, besides from the draw of money. Don’t forget, the original (well, 2010 version) made over a billion dollars and is the 19 highest grossing film. Financially, it would seem irresponsible not to make a sequel and milk off the success of the first one.
But after watching the latest trailer, you start to wonder what this sequel has to offer. The first one, directed by Tim Burton, won Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design in 2010. What does this one have that’s different? Besides being Alan Rickman’s last film, voicing the helpful Absolem the Caterpillar, it places Burton as producer and makes James Bobin (The Muppets) director.
And while many people argued against the use of CGI in the first film, it provided amazing visuals that this film — or at least the trailer — lacks. Overusing visual effects is one thing, but using it to make another world more aesthetic and visually appealing is another thing. It seems like the makers behind this film listened a bit too much to the audiences and made the film go from a bright and vibrant atmosphere to a dull and dark place.
Not that you should mistake that for the tone. It seems like this will be darker than the first, what with starting out in a hospital bed in the first place and the encountering of Time, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. No, I enjoy the new, more serious and ominous tone presented in the trailer: there’s always speculation as to what Lewis Caroll’s true intentions were when writing the story, but it just seems that having dark undertones suits the film idea much better.
Johnny Depp returns as the Mad Hatter, as does Helena Bonham Carter playing the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and Mia Wasikowska as Alice. The film comes out May 27, and until then, check out the two trailers below, and be sure to watch out for the creepy half-man/half-machine thing Time has going on for him.
Trailer One:
Advertisement
Trailer Two:
Advertisement