MALICE IN WONDERLAND

The official DVD of Malice in Wonderland (© Simon Fellows/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

One thing that I've learned repeatedly down through the years is never to be influenced by critics when deciding whether or not to view a movie (or read a book, or do anything else, for that matter) - instead, always let your own judgment be the only one that counts for you. Indeed, more often than not, if I read reviews that universally slate a movie, chances are I'm going to like it. And so once again it proved when on 23 November 2019 I watched Malice in Wonderland, a British fantasy/comedy film directed by Simon Fellows and released in 2009.

As a lifelong fan of the two original Alice books by Lewis Carroll and the countless pastiches and parodies of them that have been created in book, comic, movie, TV show, artwork, music, and just about every other medium that you can think of, when earlier last year I saw at a market a DVD of this movie, which was hitherto unknown to me, I read its premise, saw who was in it, and was instantly intrigued. So I bought it, read reviews of it that were virtually all scathing and dismissive, warmed to it immediately, then finally watched it - and, sure enough, I loved it!

Basically, this engrossing movie relocates Wonderland to a surreal criminal underworld populated by criminal (or at the very least somewhat dodgy) equivalents of the main characters from the two Alice books. These include: an enigmatic DJ as the Cheshire Cat, a malevolent small-time criminal as the Caterpillar, a reclusive oracle-like duchess (played by Pam Ferris) as…well…the Duchess, Harry Hunt the male Queen of Hearts (I'll leave you to guess his names' derivations...), a female Mad Hatter working as a brothel keeper, and an amnesiac Alice (played by Maggie Grace) who turns out to be an American billionaire's daughter.

Plus the absolute star of the movie, who keeps everything running speedily and whose own speeding vehicle bumping inadvertently into Alice at the start of the film is what caused her to lose her memory in the first place - namely, a cockney time-obsessed taxi-cab driver called Whitey, the movie's answer to the White Rabbit and Alice's protector in the decidedly weird Wonderland into which he takes her, played by none other than almost everyone's favourite Cockney geezer, Danny Dyer.

Ignoring derisory critics' comments once more, I've always enjoyed Danny's film and TV work, and he plays this role delightfully, wonderfully tongue-in-cheek but sympathetically too. Let's not forget, Danny's acting skills were highly rated by none other than eminent playwright Harold Pinter, whose opinion I value far more than a few mean-spirited hack reviewers.

Anyway: watching it, Malice in Wonderland reminded me a lot of the stage & screen musical The Wiz, which was similarly a resetting of The Wizard of Oz in a seedy underworld, and which yet again, while slated in its movie incarnation by the critics, I liked very much. So I personally recommend Malice in Wonderland without any hesitation to anyone who relishes unusual and unexpected versions of the Alice books or quirky fantasy movies in general.- I thoroughly enjoyed it throughout its 90 minutes, and unlike many movies that I've sat through, I shall certainly watch this one again in the future.

Meanwhile, click here for a trailer to give you a taste of this very different, highly original version of Wonderland. 

And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE!