Alice

I don't understand all the harsh negativity heaped on this series by previous posts. As long as you aren't expecting "The Greatest Movie Ever" you should come away fairly pleased. I for one found the series fun and fresh. Some good ideas mixed with decent acting. In particular the role of Hatter was very well played. Matt Frewer(Trashcan Man for those who watched The Stand in 1994) puts in a rather delightful performance. Alice was pretty without being cliché and embodied a more realistic and modern woman. The special effects were better than your average SyFy Channel fare. I see no reason not to take a journey down this Rabbit's Hole.

I love this version of "Alice in Wonderland." It is futuristic, exciting, fun, and the characters are wonderful, creative, and different from anything you think they'd be. I never liked "Alice in Wonderland," but this just grabbed hold of my interest from the first minute. I was very impressed. For the haters, that's your opinion, but some of us like mixed-up fairy tales. If you like this movie, I would watch "the 10th Kingdom," which is a wonderfully clever mini series which throws all you've known about fairy tales your whole life on their rear. Thank you, SYFY, you actually made a version of "Alice in Wonderland" that I like! Bravo!

The first thing that must be said is that this is not the original Alice in Wonderland. Honestly, anybody who thinks it is... They said it in the very first commercials that this was "different" so from the get go you shouldn't expect Carrol's book.

This is a completely different take on Wonderland and Looking Glass - and it's good! It presents us with a headstrong and kind of reckless Alice who is capable of taking care of herself. And Hatter is just awesome, he really is. The Queen makes me want to punchasize her face (which is a good thing, it means Bates played her role well) and the White Knight... Ah, what can I say about the White Knight besides, "Most awesome old guy ever?" Some people have complained about the CGI but honestly... I expected it from Sci-fi (or Syfy, whatever). But that doesn't stop this from being a good miniseries. It was well acted, well written, and fun! I must reiterate: This wasn't meant to be the children's story, it was meant to be a different take on the story and aim it towards a different audience! A good miniseries and well worth watching if you can accept that this really is "a different kind of Alice."

So two re-imagingings of Alice in Wonderland were released this year. One was from an iconic Hollywood director, the other a smaller production special on the ScyFy network. Guess which one was better? I didn't like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, at all. My opinion is if your going to do a remake, bring something to it, don't tread the trodden ground. His version played it safe. And actually diluted the experience, by a lot. This Alice had an interesting twist on it and although it falters in some key areas, overall it had more than enough charm for me to appreciate the retelling. I liked noticing the characters from the book, and acknowledging the little nods to the original story. The woman who played Alice was infinitely more interesting to me, and I enjoyed the dynamic between the Hatter and Alice. I was surprised at the special effects and thought they were rather good for what the movie was. I also felt the casting was elevated with Kathy Bate's role as the Red Queen. She made me laugh in more than one scene and I thought she did a splendid job. My complaints are a few. While the script can have clever moments, it also falls into generic dialogue. When a director realizes what an opportunity he has with writing scenes in wonderland, and utilizes it properly, I will praise him with countless accolades. As it is, this really has not heightened scripting to any level. The other complaint was the pacing. Towards the final act, it felt very uneven, jumping from action to exposition. It just felt very rough. At the end of the day I gave it a six and unlike the other Alice in Wonderland, I would watch this one, most assuredly, again.

I can understand why some people may be frustrated by this movie. It's certainly not like the familiar childhood version. It was interesting to see the movie depicted in this way (strangely enough there were guns and fighting, it was much more "adult" and modern). I thought it was a beautiful love story that was fun and exciting. The chemistry between the characters made me feel like I was actually a part of the film. IT had a few exciting twists and turns too, although the acting was a little on the cheesy side. I'm aware that the Tim Burton version of this is coming out in 2010 but I think that Sci Fi gave it a good try, and succeeded. Personally I think that watching different versions of my favorite childhood story is more fun than having just one version.