What's not to like?

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2010)

So a mixed-age adult group of around 20 of us went and caught the 3-D version last night. Most loved it, some liked it, one thought it was OK. There were laughs in the theater, and some "awwwwwwws". My take: Tim Burton came through for me again. Although I like his bittersweet work, I was pretty worried when he started tinkering with "Alice" and "Looking Glass" - the travesty! Now I see the advantage (although some critics bemoan the loss of randomness and whimsy) of having a cohesive narrative, we all cared about the story and cared about the characters and how things would end up. To me it seems as those this "Alice" is a well-fitting sequel to the originals.
Great casting with all, Mia as Alice did a fine credible job as the now older Alice. And Depp - due to some negative remarks I was suspicious of what I was going to see, but once again we felt he was superb - his faintly dark, sometimes sad, sometimes scary Hatter was one you didn't take your eyes off on screen, and he pull off another mad, complex, shifting portrayal with intelligence and aplomb. Much has been said about HBC's Red Queen and all the positive remarks are fully justified. As one friend of mine said, with Burton you have to watch carefully as he slyly slips in all these delightful little details within the sets and the actors - as always he is simultaneously tongue-in-cheek, bitter, and sweet.
I would rate this a ten except for what I felt were a few weak details at the end, but nothing that would ruin the movie and certainly all us were happy to have seen it. A few dark Burton details suggest this is NOT for young children, and it wouldn't be appreciated, so rent the young ones the Disney cartoon version. Hoping to see it again and I will be buying it. As far as 3-D, well that was fun too, but I hope having seen it once I can take in more of the set pieces and a few missed lines. When I asked an older gentleman with us if he liked the film, he said "What's not too like?" Definitely worth the ticket price, I see some nay-sayers pick this to death and they are entitled, but what we felt was a little "Burton" sadness about life and growing up, and a lot of joy. For sure on the way out there was no complaining from the crowd, just a lot of chatter about the performances and sets.