Seeing Double: Hook & Alice in Wonderland

They are not sequel or prequel to each other, they are not directed by the same director, and they are not copying each other. No, they just happen to have some similar elements. I call them "movie siblings".

Steven Spielberg is a creative genius, or at least he once was in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. He made fun movies in between serious films with no intention on winning awards (but somehow they usually ended up winning some, albeit only in technical categories). He created tales from elements no one had ever thought of, or someone did think of but never translated into films. His films are usually enjoyable with stunning visual elements. Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future series, The Goonies (which incidentally we have just written about) and Jurassic Park were just a few of the examples (some he directed, some he produced). Today, let’s talk about Hook, a movie widely panned by critics but adored by fans alike including me.

But let’s add a twist in the discussion, and put another film that in my opinion has some similar elements into the mix. The movie in question would be Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Tim Burton is another director with creative vision, though sometimes his visions are head-turning and a little more artsy than Steven Spielberg’s. Along his career he gave us Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Dark Shadows just to name a few. Even when he made Alice in Wonderland he didn’t adapt the original story straight to the screen. No, he added in his own interpretation. He made Alice a grown-up now and re-visits Wonderland, which is why I felt it’s similar to Hook where Peter Pan is now a grown man who forgets his past and must revisit Neverland to rescue his children.

Hook gives us a grown-up Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, who has forgotten everything about his childhood and him being the (once) eternally youthful lost boy. Now a corporate lawyer, he is busy with his career and ignores his family largely leading to a strain relationship with his children. In a twist of fate, Wendy Darling turns out to be the grandmother of Peter’s wife. When the family visits Wendy, the children are kidnapped by Captain Hook (played by Dustin Hoffman), and so to rescue his children, Peter has to become the Peter Pan he never remembers he was, and fight the evil Captain Hook.

Alice in Wonderland presents to us a grown-up Alice, played by Mia Wasikowska, who has forgotten everything about his childhood visit to Wonderland. Now a gracious and sophisticated lady, she must decide whether to accept her fate (and a marriage proposal) or be the person she wants to be. She eventually arrives in Wonderland, and gets involved in the power struggle between The Red Queen and The White Queen. The Red Queen, played by the mischievously funny Helena Bonham-Carter is the main villain of the film, where she constantly yells “off with her head” to execute whoever she doesn’t like. Alice must help The White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway to battle the Red Queen’s warrior in a  duel in order for The White Queen to take back her reign.

It takes two directors with visions to bring the original stories to the screen and twist it for their own interpretation. By doing a straight forward adaptation, one is telling the author’s story; but by giving the stories a new spin, one is telling his own stories. The original stories are hard to relate to anyway, what’s with all the fantasy and out-of-this-world elements. When the directors blend the stories into a contemporary background, it’s actually to the viewers’ benefit as it’s easier for us to connect to the characters’ struggle and lost, and their eventual finding of their true nature.

And of course, you’d not expect such movies to feature sensible performances from the cast, even though a hell lot of them are Oscar-nominated / winning actors and actresses. No, you’d expect over-the-top and purposefully comic acting, complete with heavy make-up and all. And in such movies, villains are usually the best of them all, so Dustin Hoffman and Helena Bonham-Carter really shine in both movies, even out-shine Robin Williams and Mia Wasikowska. Their screen presence brighten up the movies, and when they are missing you keep hoping for them to appear. Unfortunately I really hate Johnny Depp’s character in Alice, so I find it annoying whenever he’s on screen.

In both movies, the directors used lavish sets and beautiful costumes to match with the already stunning color palette. Even people who hate the movies have to admit the technical achievements are something to admire for. Perhaps that’s why the movies picked up a few technical awards in multiple award shows.

Hook and Alice in Wonderland are not perfect movies, but their entertainment values cannot be measured by how many awards they won. We watch them for fun, and on a Friday night that we allow ourselves to sleep a little late, we can watch them back to back.