full circle

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2010)

OK, so Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" is really over-the-top, and basically an ego trip for Burton. But it is really neat to watch (especially in 3-D, like I saw it). By now, you've probably heard that it's set ten years after the original story, and Alice (Mia Wasikowska of "Defiance") returns to Wonderland to find that her destiny is to slay the Jabberwocky on Frabjous Day.
Obviously, they can't totally recreate the book's spirit, especially since they're changing the story a little bit. But Burton's version retains Lewis Carroll's sensibility more than Disney's 1951 animated feature (which went too much for being cute, and not enough for being irreverent).
The best character is definitely Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from Depp. Almost as good is Helena Bonham Carter as the villainous Red Queen. Most of the cast is composed of a who's who of UK cinema*, with some token Americans (Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts).
Overall, the movie is exaggerated almost to the point of being sort of silly, but that's appropriate for this sort of movie. I certainly liked it.
*To be precise, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Imelda Staunton, Timothy Spall, and even two cast members from the Hammer movies (Christopher Lee and Michael Gough).