If Tim Burton would have made this film eight to ten years ago, it would have been a masterpiece, instead it's another trite film based on a delightful and well-read novel.

Rating: 3/10 (6 March 2010)

This is probably one of the most disappointing movies I have seen in a few years. Alice in Wonderland should have been something up Tim Burton's alley, and instead he turned it into something it wasn't. He should have taken over the screenplay from Linda Woolverton (whoever that is) and created darker, more dimensional characters; instead, what we get is Tim Burton for kids. I would have preferred his take on Lewis Carroll's novel rather than a rehash of every Hollywood fantasy film. I thought the younger Alice in the film looked the part of the original illustrations and would have been perfect for the role. Depp ruined the Mad Hatter with his accent and incoherent speech, Burton ruined the Mad Hatter with his ugly costume design. I was disappointed to not hear Hatter shout "Change places!" I understand he is saddened by resent events, but even a mumbled, sad, "Change places" would have been nice to hear and keep his character intact through a simple and effective effort.
The charm behind Carroll's novel is that there really isn't much of a story, but rather a series of random and always bizarre events that are colorful and imaginative. You start to gain the sense that Alice really is in a peculiar land and at times you even often pity her. With her return to Wonderland the life behind everything the novel created almost evaporated. I say almost because the Cheshire Cat steals the show and truly did save the the film. Regardless, I would have much preferred a stop-motion attempt (The Nightmare Before Christmas) from Tim Burton rather than the use of actors and actresses to portray Carroll's characters. What we're left with because of this is unnecessary, though beautiful, CGI and a lot of it. At the very least the mood atmosphere of Edward Scissorhands would have been a delightful treat.