I’ll admit it – I’m a sucker for SyFy original movies.  The wild plots, hyper-hyperbole, and fantastically noticeable CGI crack me up and hook me at the same time.  Two of my personal favorites include Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus and High Plains Invaders (which happened to star Buffy’s James Marsters as a wild-west sharpshooter killing giant alien-insect-robots in shoot’em ups).  But I’m willing to argue that their recent Alice in Wonderland tribute was actually pretty good, and not just for laughing at.

I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland. Alice is typically portrayed (and pretty accurately to the book) as a little girl whose adventures in Wonderland primarily consist of her allowing things to happen to her or eating and drinking strange items simply because their labels tell her to.  At worst, this makes her appear foolish and as though she needs a protector, at best this makes her a compliant little girl.  But something about the fantasy and adventure and the fact that Alice is rarely shaken by her experience has always appealed to me.

SyFy’s Alice takes it to a new level.  Alice is now a young adult teaching karate classes and navigating the dating world.  When her new boyfriend Jack gives her a special family ring, she finds herself falling through the looking glass into Wonderland.  Here she sets out (with the help of the Hatter) to rescue Jack and escape back to her world.  Although Hatter really wants to be Alice’s hero, she often ends up using her karate skills to help them escape and really holds her own throughout the movie.  Hatter just wants to save Alice, but Alice is set on saving Jack (a nice twist on the “damsel in distress” trope).

The darker side of Wonderland is, of course, a result of the Queen of Hearts’ greed, self-centeredness, and general evil.  She kidnapped Alice’s (brilliant scientist) father ten years ago and with his help has been harvesting emotions from Oysters, other humans from Alice’s world, which she uses to keep her subjects happy and pacified.  (Another personal favorite here: I’ve always loved the imagery and symbolism of The Walrus and The Carpenter, represented in a new way here with Alice’s father as the carpenter and humans as oysters.)  Once Alice finally finds Jack she discovers that he is actually the Queen’s son, and that nothing is as it seemed.

Eventually Alice and Hatter’s priorities shift to freeing the rest of the Oysters, again led by Alice as Hatter is singularly focused on saving Alice.  Hatter’s chivalry is actually quite endearing, and by the end of the movie I felt like a Bella to his Edward, developing a new sense of empathy for the Twihards (although I still hate Twilight).  Alice overthrows the Queen, restores Wonderland, and returns home with the oysters, only to be rescued upon her return by a kindly construction worker…  If you want to get all mushy and gooey, check out this next clip, especially around 4:00 and 8:40 (but be aware that it’s the conclusion of the film, so it’s a bit of a spoiler if you were planning on watching the film for the first time):

Anyway, I always have a special place for Alice in Wonderland tributes, but I really enjoyed SyFy’s Alice’s fiery spirit, dedication, and self-sufficiency.  A little bit of romance didn’t hurt, either.