Is this the real "Alice?"

Rating: 7/10 (7 March 2010)

Almost needless to say, the visual elements of this new film version of "Alice in Wonderland" were extraordinarily impressive. In many senses, they go hand in hand with the original writing elements that have been worked into this version of the original story. Tim Burton is an extremely creative gentleman, and he has spun the materials of Lewis Carroll's story into a an incredibly rich visual world. Listing the things that look great would amount to trying to name almost everything in the movie.
Now, what goes on in this impressive created world is just as hard to get a hold of, for different reasons. The now-adult Alice is very conveniently modern in her tone as she rejects her family's insistence on corsets and arranged marriage, to a slightly irritating degree. Mia Wasikowska is great and projects a lot of power and personality in the role even though often she doesn't get too much to say beyond repeatedly insisting that she is in a dream. In fact, the arc of the story, in which Alice first insists on non-violence and making her own destiny only to give in to being a Jabberwocky-slayer according to her destiny, and then leaves wonderland in order to triumphantly... go into business is a little dissatisfying.
Johnny Depp has had his role as the Mad Hatter, now a revolutionary leader, designed to headline him. He's a capable actor who makes strong choices and follows through on them completely -- but sometimes his choices are so odd and unsympathetic that his effectiveness is all but lost. This verges on one of those times. The real star of the show is Helena Bonham Carter who is brilliantly petulant, heartless, funny, and somehow evilly charming Red Queen.
The eccentric black humor that shows up here is great and mischievously funny. Sadly, though, it doesn't always show up. This is a grim version of the story, and many scenes are more serious than funny. This leaves them a little empty when we haven't really invested yet in the characters that this seriousness is based around. "Alice and Wonderland" really does need the sense of fun and humor that the original was essentially made of.
There are plenty of flaws to this big-budget spectacular version of a lighthearted children's book, but the strengths are often so relentlessly impressive that it's still an experience that it's tough to imagine regretting.