Burton Delivers but generic CGI ending. Depp is Magnificent 4 stars

Rating: 9/10 (3 June 2010)

Alice in Wonderland 2010. Some called this a "bold" Lewis Carol I just call it Tim Burton. He is visually bold always. Some were expecting more than the fairy tale as if he would invent a new story or Alice in Wonderland "world" (like Cameron did in Avatar). No don't expect too much this is still the standard tale of Alice we all grew up with. However it is with Burton's typically dark & adult slant. Maybe this was not mean as a children's tale. Plot: Having grown up & grown a sense of responsibility, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to the rabbit hole where her Wonderland once appeared. This time she has a political motive to overthrow the despotic rule of the autocratic Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). To accomplish this, Alice must garner support for the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) & eliminate the Jabberwocky (Christopher Lee) & end the state terrorism. At least this is the determination of a Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) & the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry). Alice must enlist the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) to her cause, though he seems shell-shocked by the antics of the Red Queen & her henchman Stayne, the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover). Burton's unique & enjoyable visual version gives us Carroll's characters as distinctive as the original illustrations. The people in Wonderland seem to be made particularly obnoxious by Burton. (which I enjoyed!) The film works well until the end & then I hated all the action. What happened to a real storyline ending in film today?? Since this is a Disney film I expected a chain holding back Burton & we got that in the plot a very generic CGI battle ending. . Seems Disney's oversight kept this film with a much more commercial plot than many of Burton's films have been. Still it is a visually delightfully absurd & even quite violent & bloody movie. I enjoyed it a lot I have trouble accepting all the bad 2 & 3 star reviews. Its not a 5 star movie & its not bad. 4 for me!! I love Tim Burton films. Dep is magnificent in this film