Nothing Wonderful About This Wonderland

Rating: 3/10 (2 March 2011)

Pretty terrible sequel of sorts to the famous Lewis Carroll story that finds Alice returning to Wonderland years after her first adventure to do battle with the Jabberwocky and end the reign of the tyrannical Red Queen.
A lot of money and some pretty decent actors are thrown up on the screen in a frenzy of special effects, production design and action sequences that are meant to distract us from how badly written and unengaging the whole thing is. Johnny Depp is given a large role as the Mad Hatter and does his standard weirdo routine for the umpteenth time. Alice is a black hole at the film's center, mostly because the actress who plays her is uber-bland. The only thing that occasionally roused me from my drowsy stupor was Helena Bonham Carter, who gives the film its only laughs as the Red Queen.
At one time I thought Tim Burton had the makings of a great filmmaker. I'm not so sure anymore.....
Grade: D