Roth Films, The Zanuck Company, Team Todd, Tim Burton Productions and Walt Disney Pictures.

Written By: Linda Woolverton, adapted from the books of Lewis Carroll.

When the announcement came that Tim Burton would be filming a remake of “Alice In Wonderland”, lots of expectations came with that news.  Although Burton’s distinctive style and approach has not always resulted with success, his bold and daring vision in telling a story would seem to lend itself perfectly to one of the more confounding entries in children’s literature; Lewis Carroll’s beloved “Alice” series.

As word and a pesky version of the script leaked, it was revealed that Burton was approaching his “Alice” as a hybrid remake/sequel to the original story…and in 3-D no less (!).  Naturally, people’s interests piqued.  Seeing the final result, Burton and his cast go for broke in rebooting “Alice” for a new generation and as is probably to be expected, they succeed more than they fail.

Following the death of her father and now 19, unable and unwilling to fit in with Victorian society, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) discovers that she is on the verge of an arranged engagement she is defiantly set against.  In her desperation to avoid marrying the insufferable Hamish (Leo Bill), Alice notices a white rabbit in a waistcoat carrying an oversized pocket watch running in and around the periphery of her engagement party.  Familiar to her, she follows the white rabbit into a maze and ultimately tumbles into the seemingly never-ending rabbit hole, finally landing in the middle of Underland, referred to by its residents as “Wonderland”.  A crazed and staggered group of characters remember Alice’s previous visit and are stunned by her return, although Alice struggles to remember ever being there before.

In stark opposition to Alice is the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).  The ruler of Underland, she is the mother of two precocious twin boys, Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), and despises the animal inhabitants of Underland, as well as her younger sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is Alice’s close friend and a kindred spirit for Alice in Underland.  Slightly manic in personality and jarring to look at with reddish/orange hair and gigantic emerald green eyes, Depp is yet again able to put believability into the most eccentric of characters.  Alice and the Mad Hatter resonate nicely here with the Mad Hatter’s uneasiness in Underland a direct correlation to the discomfort Alice experiences in her Victorian life.  Depp and Wasikowska, when allowed to, share some great moments together on screen.

The absurd appearance of the Red Queen, her head at least three times larger than her dwarf-like body, is impressively played by Burton’s partner, Helena Bonham Carter.  Watching the Red Queen, you feel as if time moves differently for her than with other people.  She talks fast, thinks fast, and as much as she thinks she has control over those in Underland, she really lacks any control over anything once Alice arrives.  As the Red Queen’s power and influence risks being eradicated, she begins to shout the classic line, “Off With Their Heads…” with the frequency of a skipping record; each utterance more desperate and comical than the one before it.  Again, Tim Burton has laid out a fantastical and magical landscape to tell his story, and his three leads zealously take charge of the film.

With Tim Burton’s films, I come to the same criticism time and time again.  In my mind, Burton has achieved perfection once (“Ed Wood”), arguably twice (“Edward Scissorhands” and/or perhaps, “Nightmare Before Christmas”).  Without question he remains an exciting and important filmmaker, standing amongst the best of his peers in having the innate ability to see stories in stunning and original ways.

Yet specifically, there is always a point in a Burton film (above names excluded) where I tend to drift out and disengage.  With “Alice In Wonderland”, this occurs rather frequently in the film’s second half and no more egregiously than in the film’s final action sequence – an epic battle between the Red Queen’s army and those loyal to the White Queen.  Tim Burton has never really shown the ability to succeed at tackling the big action sequence (“Planet of the Apes” come to mind?) and the final battle is a long, turgid mess.  Even the appearance of the rather frightening Jabberwock monster tends to add only the wrong kind of chaos to the battle scene and fails in delivering the suspense Burton is clearly angling for.

Far from Burton’s best work, “Alice In Wonderland” is a fascinating watch, but not nearly as good of a movie, per se.  Let me be clear – there’s a lot to like on the surface.  Burton, always a strong director for the female character, builds the entire film around relative newcomer, Mia Wasikowska (Amelia, Defiance).  Although the marketing might focus its sights elsewhere, Wasikowska is in virtually every scene and more than holds her own with all the shenanigans running amok around her.  If the film is well received, this could be a breakout performance for the Australian actress.

Burton keeps things moving at a brisk pace for much of the film, and his vision of what lies at the bottom of the iconic rabbit hole is rather remarkable.  You get vintage Burton moments, themes, and presentation – stabs of color snuggle in next to drab and dark set pieces.  Outlandish characters steal your eye and to his credit, TIm Burton’s movies have that carnival/funhouse feel to them.  Visually, the film’s presentation is so engaging that I fell into the trappings of “seeing” the movie and not actually “watching” it.

Save a badly conceived third act, “Alice In Wonderland” is, in totality, fine entertainment.  Like much of Burton’s work, the film is too dark and scary for the littlest of kids.  Older kids, if inclined, should have a big Cheshire cat style grin from ear-to-ear as they take in the inventiveness and marvel at the subtle and effective 3-D on display.  Just watch it, don’t think too much about it, and you shall return from the trip down the rabbit hole largely unscathed.

Should I See It?

If you are a Tim Burton fan, you’ve already made plans to watch it and/or are heading back to see this again.

Three strong performances by Alice, The Mad Hatter, and the Red Queen really are better than expected.  Johnny Depp is eccentric but exhibits a realness at times with his character and his work with Mia Wasikowska stands out at times.  Everyone looks as if they had a ball working on the film.

Visually arresting at times, “Alice In Wonderland”, with its fantastic and subtle 3-D presentation, is really worth seeing on the big screen.

Despite the positives, the film cannot sustain itself through much of a third act battle sequence that, regardless of whether it exists in the source material or not, nearly changes the tone of the film to such a degree that you forget the good.

The Jabberwock dragon/beast hybrid is jarringly intense in action and presentation and if family members are at all sensitive to something like this, be warned.

To some lovers of the two books providing the source material for Burton, the liberties taken will not be accepted all that well I imagine.

Some will shrug thinking they have seen the dark and sublime Tim Burton movie one too many times.