For those folk who were actually all right with the occasionally wacky Johnny Depp performance, the actor's turn as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland presumably marked something of a turning point in their opinions of the actor. "Another performance like this in another Tim Burton movie?" Seriously, Johnny, is there nobody else in Hollywood capable of delivering these roles?" So The Mad Hatter is, plainly put, insufferable from start to finish - every inch of this character has been honed from the Johnny Depp School of Annoying Performances, and all its "cute" mannerisms and "quirky" nuances are grating in every way imaginable. The whole ordeal pretty much consists of Depp mugging for the camera - something that might have been okay had we not witnessed exactly the same thing in countless performances beforehand. The film was quite insufferable, but Depp - talented as he is - should have eased the pain somewhat. Instead, his presence felt more akin to that old phrase "being kicked when you're down." Ouch.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
