Well, this Alice is a live version that involves little Alice all grown up in today's modern times. She is a judo instructor and is dating a man, Jack. One evening he abruptly offers her a ring of engagement, scaring her into saying they are moving too quickly. He slips the engagement ring in her pocket and leaves. Alice finds the ring and chases after him outside to give it back where she sees Jack being kidnapped. Pursuing his kidnappers, she stumbles into a mirror that transports her to a futuristic wonderland of sorts. There the Red Queen has a casino that ensnares humans aka "oysters" and harvests their emotions to be sold to the people of wonderland, Jack is her son. He stole the ring of Wonderland that allows them to get into the human world to kidnap oysters for harvesting. Without the ring, the Red Queen is virtually powerless. Alice, not knowing any of this, stumbles her way into the kidnappers clutches, only to escape and blindly find her way to getting help. She happens upon the Mad Hatter, a gambling man of sorts, that has connections of value to help Alice find Jack and get back to the regular world.
There are moments during the plot that just when Alice thinks she can trust someone, she realizes they have an underlying plan that uses her as a pawn. She is constantly gyrating between trusting, questioning her trust, and questioning the people she is having to put her trust in; as well as, trusting her own decisions. It seems exhausting, and yet, that's what life is most of the time.
It isn't that I was impressed with the special effects of this movie or that the acting was anything spectacular. I think what I like most about this Alice is that is is modern and in the now. It is nicely adapted with an original twist to the plot and the scripting was well written. It poses a lot of thematic questions anyone can relate to;What woman hasn't stumbled into a situation that she has no idea what's going on or who anyone really is? What woman hasn't found that the people she trusted had hidden agendas? What woman hasn't had to stand up for herself and not let anyone take advantage of her, even though it may break her heart?
I enjoy the simplicity of these questions. That is a word I use a lot. Simple, in all it's forms, is a beautiful word, and an even better thing to have. Make seemingly difficult things simple in your mind. There is beauty in simplicity. Nothing is too hard to achieve, as Alice comes to learn. You can find truth if you're strong enough to seek it and accept it as truth once you find it. And you can find your way home as long as you're willing to make the journey to get there. It's never as easy as clicking your heels together three times and making a wish. ...At least not in my experience... But what do I know? I'm just a twenty-two year old blogging about her life alongside movies as she stumbles through Wonderland or Oz, or whatever the heck this life is called. I think there are some lessons Alice has to teach us, we haven't even thought about yet, till now, as we explore wonderland with a new outlook.
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