I barely ever bother writing reviews but this show is so appallingly bad, I just had to - to offer fair warning to other viewers. First, let's start with the acting - or the lack thereof. The only exception, being Naveen Andrews - everyone else is laughably amateurish. Both female leads - Alice and the Red Queen - are yawn-inducing one-dimensional and fail abominably to pull off strong characters; Sophie Lowe's depiction of Alice's feisty spirit is about as convincing as the Red Queen's collagen-pumped lips being passed of as au naturale. (Seriously - what is up with that?). While I was intrigued by the initial setting of Alice being cooped in an Asylum, they simply didn't take that theme far enough - having her shed any nuance of bitterness / angst aside to suddenly become the silly and awkwardly coquettish girl within minutes of meeting Cyrus (seriously... is that really the best name for a genie from Agrabah...) I get that it's a love story, but they could've taken their time with it ala Snow and Charming from OUAT.
Where OUAT at least started strong with credible actors and clever back-stories for so many beloved fairytale characters - its spin off fails to deliver any of these traits. Even the costumes seem to lack OUAT's classy flair and clearly its budget - the Red Queen's red-on-red-on-red (yes I know she's the RED Queen but there are other shades beside tacky-chili-pepper-red) dresses pale in comparison to Regina's boldly dramatic Evil Queen gowns. (Admittedly the first dress we see Alice in when she meets Cyrus is pretty albeit predictable. Would've been way cooler to see remnants of her traumatic experience in the Asylum in the real world, as part of her wardrobe even in Wonderland). And it's all such a shame - there's so many layers and potential about the story and its characters - I'm really quite taken aback by how underwhelming this turned out to be.
All in all - I've seen better productions on YouTube.
Where OUAT at least started strong with credible actors and clever back-stories for so many beloved fairytale characters - its spin off fails to deliver any of these traits. Even the costumes seem to lack OUAT's classy flair and clearly its budget - the Red Queen's red-on-red-on-red (yes I know she's the RED Queen but there are other shades beside tacky-chili-pepper-red) dresses pale in comparison to Regina's boldly dramatic Evil Queen gowns. (Admittedly the first dress we see Alice in when she meets Cyrus is pretty albeit predictable. Would've been way cooler to see remnants of her traumatic experience in the Asylum in the real world, as part of her wardrobe even in Wonderland). And it's all such a shame - there's so many layers and potential about the story and its characters - I'm really quite taken aback by how underwhelming this turned out to be.
All in all - I've seen better productions on YouTube.