Alice: Otherlands (2015)
Review by Richard Eisenbeis
American McGee’s Alice is easily one of my favorite twisted re-imaginings of classic literature, so when I saw there was a Kickstarter for Alice short films, I pitched in without a second thought. However, even with my nostalgia turned up high, the final products are a mixed bag to say the least. The first short, Leviathan, shows an encounter between Alice and legendary author Jules Verne inside the latter's own mind. As the two travel through the worlds of some of the author’s most famous titles, they have a debate about the natures of science, inspiration, and the darkness to be found in the human heart. For an eight-minute short, Leviathan is absolutely packed with philosophical musings. Alice’s goal seems to be to get Verne to admit his greatest fear—mankind’s self-destruction via our own technology—and to understand how his visionary works could serve as either the inspiration to bring said fear to pass or to likewise prevent it. For Alice herself, there are a few nice character moments. Her dry, sarcastic, yet polite demeanor is intact but under her knowing smile is more than a bit of worry for the darkness... |